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. 2024 Nov;54(11):4278-4287.
doi: 10.1007/s10803-023-06140-1. Epub 2023 Sep 26.

Perceptions of Parents/Caregivers About the Impact of Oral Conditions on the Quality of Life of Children and Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Stefania Werneck Procopio  1 , Maisa Costa Tavares  2 , Camila Faria Carrada  3 , Flávia Almeida Ribeiro Scalioni  4 , Rosangela Almeida Ribeiro  4 , Saul Martins Paiva  2
Affiliations

Perceptions of Parents/Caregivers About the Impact of Oral Conditions on the Quality of Life of Children and Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Stefania Werneck Procopio et al. J Autism Dev Disord. 2024 Nov.

Abstract

Purpose: To investigate the perceptions of parents/caregivers about the impact of oral conditions on the oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) of children/adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) compared to the perceptions of parents/caregivers of children/adolescents without ASD.

Methods: A comparative cross-sectional study was conducted involving 80 children/adolescents with ASD three to 16 years of age matched by sex and age with 80 children/adolescents without ASD and their parents/caregivers. Clinical examinations were performed for the diagnosis of dental caries experience (DMFT/dmft), clinical consequences of untreated dental caries (PUFA/pufa), visible plaque (VPI), bleeding on probing (BPI), malocclusion and traumatic dental injury (TDI). Parents/caregivers answered a questionnaire addressing sociodemographic characteristics and the Brazilian version of the Parental-Caregiver Perceptions Questionnaire (P-CPQ), which measures OHRQoL from the perspective of parents/caregivers. Data analysis involved the Wilcoxon test, chi-squared test and Poisson regression.

Results: Dental caries experience impacted OHRQoL in the group with ASD regarding the total P-CPQ score (p < 0.001) as well as the "oral symptoms" (p = 0.011) and "wellbeing" (p < 0.011) domains. No differences were found between the perceptions of parents/caregivers of children/adolescents with ASD and perceptions of parents/caregivers of children/adolescents without ASD (p = 0.721).

Conclusion: Dental caries experience can have a negative impact on the OHRQoL of children/adolescents with ASD.

Keywords: Adolescent; Autism spectrum disorder; Child; Oral health; Quality of life.

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