INFLUENCE OF THE AGE AND COMORBIDITY ON ORAL HEALTH AND QUALITY OF LIFE AT GERIATRIC POPULATION WITH TOTAL AND PARTIAL DENTURES IN REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA

Health and health condition are basic components of quality of life, and oral health connective part of the general health. Age and comorbidity conditions are important co-factors for oral health and quality of life. Main purpose of this study was to evaluate the quality of life at geriatric population >65 in relation to the type of oral prosthetic dentures, present comorbidity and age in the Republic of Macedonia. The survey was a transversal study conducted among 165 institutionally sheltered patients at Gerontology Institute (inspected group – IG) and 170 patients from the University Dental Clinic (control group CG) at age 65 and older. Statistical program SPSS for Windows ver. 13.0 was used for statistical processing. Patients with upper and lower total dentures dominated (43,6% vs. 26,5%). Age had no significant influence on total GOHAI score (p=0,53). CG patients aged >85 had the highest GOHAI score (30,33), while the lowest score had the CG aged 75-79 patients (27,86). Patients from both groups with positive history of chronic diseases had highly significant higher total mean GOHAI scores than those without. IG Patients had significant differences in relation to the physical and psycho-social functioning, while CG patients had significant differences in relation to all three dimensions of quality of life. Quality of life and oral health at geriatric patients are at unsatisfactory level, and patients in both groups with and without comorbidity had significant differences in terms of physical and psycho-social functioning and age in both groups has insignificant influence.