Sense of coherence moderates the relationship between perceived racial discrimination and oral health-related quality of life in scholars

Objectives: Evaluate the moderating effect of the SOC in the relationship between racial discrimination and OHRQoL in scholars. Materials and Methods This is a cross-sectional study nested in a cohort performed in southern Brazil. OHRQoL was assessed using the short version of the Child Perceptions Questionnaire 11–14. The perception of racial discrimination was measured using a question contained in the Bullying Questionnaire by Olweus, and SOC through the shortened version of the 13-item Sense of Coherence Scale. Sociodemographic and dental caries characteristics were also collected. A simple slop test and Poisson regression analysis were performed to test the interaction effects of the predictors on OHRQoL. The results are presented in Rate Ratio and 95% confidence interval. Results A total of 429 scholars were included in this study. About 6.7% reported had perceived racial discrimination. The simple slope test indicated that the negative effects of racial discrimination on OHRQoL were significant under different SOC levels. Among scholars who suffered racial discrimination, those who had higher SOC reported lower impact on OHRQoL (RR 0.70; 95%CI 0.55–0.89) when compared to those with low SOC. Conclusion SOC can be considered a moderating variable in the relationship between racial discrimination and OHRQoL. These findings highlight the potential importance of the SOC in reducing the harmful effects of racial discrimination on OHRQoL. Clinical Relevance: It is important that we present ways to minimize the impacts of racial discrimination in order to reduce the effects of these acts on different oral health outcomes throughout life.