Relationship between Oral Health Related Quality of Life and Hyposalivation and Xerostomia in Patients with Chronic Renal Failure Undergoing Hemodialysis

This study investigated the relationship between oral health related quality of life and hyposalivation and dry mouth in patients with chronic renal failure (CRF) undergoing hemodialysis.

This descriptive-analytical study was conducted in 200 patients with CRF undergoing hemodialysis attending the dialysis department in Sari Imam Khomeini Hospital, 2021. Patients completed oral health-related quality of life questionnaires (OHIP-14) with additive and simple count assessment methods. To diagnose dry mouth, unstimulated saliva was collected and patients were asked nine questions, of which five positive answers indicated dry mouth. Data analysis was done in SPSS V18. Pearson's or Spearman's correlation coefficient were applied to investigate the association between quality of life score and unstimulated salivary flow, and t-test or Mann-Whitney test were used to compare the quality of life scores between the groups with and without dry mouth.

Hyposalivation was observed in 66 patients (33%). The OHIP-14 score was significantly higher in both additive and simple count methods in patients with dry mouth and hyposalivation (P<0.05). Comparing different variables, the findings showed that 66.7% of the patients with hyposalivation were older than 58 years of age (P=0.007). In addition, 60.6% of patients with dry mouth had diabetes (P=0.01).

Dry mouth and hyposalivation reduce the quality of life in patients with CRF undergoing hemodialysis. Also, dry mouth and hyposalivation were relatively common problems in these patients. The treatment of these problems is necessary because of their impact on patients' quality of life.