Oral health related quality of life and the prevalence of ageusia and xerostomia in active and recovered COVID-19 Patients

Mahnoor K M Saleem; Abhishek Lal; Naseer Ahmed; Maria S Abbasi; Fahim Vohra; Tariq Abduljabbar

doi:10.7717/peerj.14860

Oral health related quality of life and the prevalence of ageusia and xerostomia in active and recovered COVID-19 Patients

PeerJ. 2023 Mar 6:11:e14860. doi: 10.7717/peerj.14860. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Mahnoor K M Saleem¹, Abhishek Lal¹, Naseer Ahmed^{1

2}, Maria S Abbasi¹, Fahim Vohra³, Tariq Abduljabbar³

Affiliations

¹ Prosthodontics Department, Altamash Institute of Dental Medicine, Karachi, Pakistan.
² Prosthodontics Department, University Sains Malaysia, Kelantan, Malaysia.
³ Prosthetic Dental Sceinces, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Abstract

Background: Salivary disturbance is associated with patients who either have an active coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) or have recovered from coronavirus infection along with loss of taste sensation. In addition, COVID-19 infection can drastically compromise quality of life of individuals.

Objective: This study aimed to analyze xerostomia, ageusia and the oral health impact in coronavirus disease-19 patients utilizing the Xerostomia Inventory scale-(XI) and the Oral Health Impact Profile-14.

Methods: In this cross-sectional survey-based study, data was collected from 301 patients who suffered and recovered from COVID-19. Using Google Forms, a questionnaire was developed and circulated amongst those who were infected and recovered from coronavirus infection. The Xerostomia Inventory (XI) and Oral Health Impact Profile-14 were used to assess the degree and quality of life. A paired T-test and Chi-square test were used to analyze the effect on xerostomia inventory scale-(XI) and OHIP-14 scale scores. A p-value of 0.05 was considered as statistically significant.

Results: Among 301 participants, 54.8% were females. The prevalence of xerostomia in participants with active COVID-19 disease was 39.53% and after recovery 34.88%. The total OHIP-14 scores for patients in the active phase of infection was 12.09, while 12.68 in recovered patients. A significant difference was found between the mean scores of the xerostomia inventory scale-11 and OHIP-14 in active and recovered COVID patients.

Conclusion: A higher prevalence of xerostomia was found in COVID-19 infected patients (39.53%) compared to recovered patients (34.88%). In addition, more than 70% reported aguesia. COVID-19 had a significantly higher compromising impact on oral function of active infected patients compared to recovered patients.

Keywords: COVID 19; Loss of taste; Quality of life; Recovery; Xerostomia.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adolescent
Adult
Ageusia* / epidemiology
COVID-19* / epidemiology
Cross-Sectional Studies
Female
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
Prevalence
Quality of Life*
Xerostomia* / epidemiology
Young Adult

Grants and funding

The authors received funding through the Researchers supporting project (RSP2023R44) at King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.