Background: Oral diseases, especially periodontitis and tooth loss, are very common in patients with rheumatic diseases [1]. Oral health is also often influenced by other comorbidities diabetes mellitus, inflammatory bowel disease, cardiovascular disease, and neurodegenerative diseases.

Objectives: To compare self-perceived oral health and its domains in patients with rheumatic disease with and without comorbidities.

Methods: A cross-sectional, descriptive, and comparative study was carried out in the rheumatology service of the University Hospital “Dr. José Eleuterio González”, Mexico. Patients with a previous diagnosis of rheumatic disease were included and were administered the Geriatric/General Oral Health Assessment Index Spanish Version (GOHAI-SP) survey, which includes 12 questions on a Likert-type scale. Scores ≤44 were classified as poor oral health, moderate from 45 to 50, and good ≥51. Patients were divided into 2 groups, the first group being patients without comorbidities and the second group with comorbidities. The Kolmogorov-Smirnov test was used for the normality of quantitative variables. Qualitative variables were compared using Chi-square. Student’s t-test and Mann-Whitney U test were used to compare normal and non-normal quantitative variables respectively. A p-value <0.05 was considered for statistically significant differences.

Results: 490 patients were included: 307 (62.6%) without comorbidities and 183 (37.3%) with comorbidities; the majority were women, with a total of 279 (90.87%) and 175 (95.62%) in each group respectively. Rheumatoid arthritis (57.17%) was seen in half of the patients, followed by systemic lupus erythematosus (12.3%) and Sjögren’s syndrome (9.42%). The group with comorbidities was older (56 vs 48, p = <0.001). A significant difference was found in the self-perception of oral health between the group without comorbidity and the group with comorbidity. A statistically significant difference was found in the GOHAI-SP domains of functionality and psychosocial, getting a p-value of 0.001 and 0.036 respectively, and no statistically significant difference was found in the domain of pain and discomfort (p = 0.73). The results of the GOHAI-SP scores can be found in Table 1.

Conclusion: Self-perceived oral health is significantly related to the presence of comorbidities in patients with rheumatic disease. Patients with rheumatic disease without comorbidities presented better self-perception of functionality and psychosocial well-being of oral health compared to patients with comorbidities.

REFERENCES: [1] Schmalz G, Patschan S, Patschan D, Ziebolz D. Oral-Health-Related Quality of Life in Adult Patients with Rheumatic Diseases—A Systematic Review. J Clin Med. 2020;9(4):1172.

Acknowledgements: NIL.

Disclosure of Interests: None declared.