TY - JOUR
T1 - The association between depression and oral health related quality of life in people who inject drugs
AU - Abdelsalam, Shady
AU - Van Den Boom, Wijnand
AU - Higgs, Peter
AU - Dietze, Paul
AU - Erbas, Bircan
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors are grateful to the SuperMIX cohort participants and the alcohol and other drugs (AOD) fieldwork team at Burnet Institute for their time and effort to provide and collect this data. The SuperMIX study was funded by the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council (NHRMC) , Grant Numbers: 545891 & 1126090 and the funder played no role in the conseptualization or production of this work.
Funding Information:
PH has received funding from Gilead Science and Abbvie for investigator-initiatedresearch unrelated to this study. PD has received an investigator-driven grant from Gilead Sciences for unrelated work on Hepatitis C and an untied educational grant from Indivior for unrelated work on the introduction of a buprenorphine-naloxone formulation into Australia. PD has served as an unpaid member of an Advisory Board for Mundipharma.
Funding Information:
This research involved a cross sectional analysis of OHRQoL measures for participants recruited to the Melbourne injecting drug user cohort study (SuperMIX), established in 2008 ( Horyniak et al., 2013 ). Briefly, SuperMIX involves annual face-to-face interviews with cohort members who were recruited using a mix of respondent driven and convenience sampling methods ( Horyniak et al., 2013; Palmer et al., 2021 ). Eligibility criteria included being over 18 years of age, injecting heroin and/or methamphetamine in the past six months, residing in Melbourne, provision of contact details and holding a valid universal healthcare (Medicare) card ( Horyniak et al., 2013 ). Further details regarding SuperMIX methodology are described in detail elsewhere ( Horyniak et al., 2013; Palmer et al., 2021 ). The SuperMIX study was funded by the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council (NHRMC) (Grant Numbers: 545891 & 1126090). Ethical approval for the SuperMIX study was obtained from Human Research Ethics Committees at the Victorian Department of Health and Human Services (28.13.17). SuperMIX cohort recruitment is illustrated in Fig. 1 . In order to assess OHRQoL, the oral health impact profile (OHIP-14) ( Slade, 1997a ) tool was introduced to the SuperMIX questionnaire in February 2015. By December 2019, 943 participants (out of a total of N = 1320) had completed at least one survey that included the OHIP-14. This sub-sample of n = 943 participants, from the period between February 2015 to December 2019, represents our study sample. This study is reported according to Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (STROBE) guidelines ( Von Elm et al., 2014 ).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 Elsevier B.V.
PY - 2021/12/1
Y1 - 2021/12/1
N2 - Background and aims: Oral health related quality of life (OHRQoL) is known to be reduced in disadvantaged populations, including people who inject drugs. Mental health issues, such as depression are also commonly reported. In this study we examined the association between depression and OHRQoL. Methods: Cross-sectional analysis survey data was collected from the Melbourne Injecting Drug User Cohort Study (SuperMIX) of people who inject drugs (N = 982). Three measures derived from the Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP-14) were used to assess OHRQoL: Prevalence (reporting one or more dental issue “Very often” or “Fairly often” in the previous year), Extent (number of items reported either “Very often” or “Fairly often”) and Severity (summary score of all ordinal responses). Regression analyses assessed the association between depression, indexed as scoring above 10 on the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), and OHIP-14 measures, adjusted for sociodemographic, drug use and dental service utilisation variables. Results: Overall, participants had low levels of OHRQoL, indexed through OHIP-14 scores (46% exhibiting prevalence, mean extent of 2.35 and mean severity of 12.72). Depression was associated with increases in all OHIP-14 measures, after adjustment for potential confounders. Conclusions: We found a significant association between depression and poor OHRQoL in this sample of people who inject drugs. Further research using a longitudinal frame is needed to determine the direction of this relationship. Interventions to improve oral health of people who inject drugs are urgently needed, and these may benefit mental health outcomes for people who inject drugs.
AB - Background and aims: Oral health related quality of life (OHRQoL) is known to be reduced in disadvantaged populations, including people who inject drugs. Mental health issues, such as depression are also commonly reported. In this study we examined the association between depression and OHRQoL. Methods: Cross-sectional analysis survey data was collected from the Melbourne Injecting Drug User Cohort Study (SuperMIX) of people who inject drugs (N = 982). Three measures derived from the Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP-14) were used to assess OHRQoL: Prevalence (reporting one or more dental issue “Very often” or “Fairly often” in the previous year), Extent (number of items reported either “Very often” or “Fairly often”) and Severity (summary score of all ordinal responses). Regression analyses assessed the association between depression, indexed as scoring above 10 on the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), and OHIP-14 measures, adjusted for sociodemographic, drug use and dental service utilisation variables. Results: Overall, participants had low levels of OHRQoL, indexed through OHIP-14 scores (46% exhibiting prevalence, mean extent of 2.35 and mean severity of 12.72). Depression was associated with increases in all OHIP-14 measures, after adjustment for potential confounders. Conclusions: We found a significant association between depression and poor OHRQoL in this sample of people who inject drugs. Further research using a longitudinal frame is needed to determine the direction of this relationship. Interventions to improve oral health of people who inject drugs are urgently needed, and these may benefit mental health outcomes for people who inject drugs.
KW - Dental public health
KW - Depression
KW - Harm reduction
KW - Mental health
KW - Methamphetamine
KW - Opioids
KW - Oral health
KW - Oral health related quality of life
KW - People who inject drugs
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85117622409
U2 - 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2021.109121
DO - 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2021.109121
M3 - Article
C2 - 34688121
AN - SCOPUS:85117622409
SN - 0376-8716
VL - 229
JO - Drug and Alcohol Dependence
JF - Drug and Alcohol Dependence
M1 - 109121
ER -
SDG 3 Good Health and Well-being