Oral health-related quality of life among a group of patients with substance use disorders in rehabilitation treatment: a cross-sectional study

Background: Little is known about the effect of illicit drugs on oral health-related quality of life. Our aim was to investigate oral health-related quality among patients with substance use disorder, and its association with dental caries experience and drug use profile. Methods Applying a stratified cluster random sampling method, we conducted a cross-sectional study on 267 in-treatment patients with substance use disorder in Isfahan, Iran in 2016. Self-administered questionnaires requested participants’ demographics and drug use profile. A trained dental student carried out personal interviews utilizing Oral Impact on Daily Performance (OIDP) instrument. Clinical examinations were conducted to record dental caries experience. T-test, ANOVA, pearson and spearman correlation coefficient, and linear regression model served for statistical analysis (p < 0.05). Results A great majority of the participants reported past use of opium (85%) followed by heroin (42.7%) and amphetamines (20.2%). The most common routes of drug administration were combined routes (44.6%) followed by smoking (36.7%). The mean score of OIDP was 22.4 ± 8.6. As high as 74.1% of the participants reported at least one OIDP impact. The most prevalent OIDP impact was “difficulty eating” (64.8%). The most prevalent cause of the impacts were “dental decay” and “tooth loss”. No significant association revealed between OIDP and patients’ demographics and drug use profile (p > 0.05). Participants with higher caries experience, reported greater OIDP (p < 0.05). Conclusions There is an oral impact on the daily performance of patients with substance use disorder. Patients with higher caries experience reported greater OIDP. Thus, in addition to normative assessment of oral health, clinicians should consider the patients' self-reported oral problems, and the social and mental aspects of oral conditions.