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영어

The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of oral health behavior on oral health-related quality of life by using OHIP-14, as research in quality of life related to oral health behavior was expected to make a contribution to the development of oral health care programs geared toward government employees. A survey was conducted on 412 government workers of public institutions in North Jeolla Province from June 4 to July 26 to determine the influence of oral health behavior on oral health-related quality of life. The general characteristics investigated were gender, age, self-rated oral health status, receiving dental treatment at present or not, and experience of visiting a dental clinic for a preventive purpose. The oral health behavior investigated was toothbrushing, use of oral hygiene supplies and scaling. The instrument used in this study was the OHIP-14(Oral Health Impact Profile-14) that was a simplified form. 1. As for self-rated oral health status, the biggest group that accounted for 35.0 percent replied they were neither in good oral health nor in bad oral health. As a result of asking them whether they were receiving dental treatment at present or not, the largest group that accounted for 72.7 percent answered they weren't. Concerning visit to a dental clinic for a preventive purpose, the greatest group that accounted for 54.6 percent replied they had visited dental clinics for a preventive purpose. 2. In regard to the subfactors of oral health-related quality of life, they got a mean of 4.18 in social barriers; 4.13 in activity barriers; 4.09 functional barriers; 3.91 in mental barriers; 3.77 in mental discomfort; and 3.57 in physical pain. 3. As to oral health-related quality of life, there were differences in functional barriers, physical pain, mental discomfort, physical barriers, social barriers and activity barriers according to gender, age, self-rated oral health status, receiving dental treatment at present or not, and experience of visiting a dental clinic for a preventive purpose. All the differences were statistically significant. 4. The respondents who replied they were in good oral health had the most experience to receive toothbrushing education. As many as 42 percent answered they didn't make use of oral hygiene supplies other than toothbrushes, and 82.4 percent replied they'd gotten their teeth cleaned. The above-mentioned findings illustrated that oral health behavior exerted an influence on the improvement of oral health-related quality of life. Therefore the development of customized programs and continuing education are required to step up the improvement of quality of life and oral health.