Behavioural and Sociodemographic Determinants of Oral Health-related Quality of Life Among Adolescents in Zanzibar, Tanzania

Purpose: To identify and assess the predictors of oral impacts on daily performance among adolescents in Zanzibar, Tanzania. Materials and Methods: This was a cross-sectional study among primary school pupils. A single stage cluster sampling design was used. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire which inquired about sociodemographics, oral impacts on daily performance and oral health related behaviours. The Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 20.0 was used for data analysis using chi-squared statistics and standardized logistic regression. The level of significance was set at p ˂ 0.05. Results: A total of 682 pupils aged 12 to 17 years participated in the study. 45.6% of the participants had at least one oral impact, the most common being difficulties in eating (27.9%). Statistically significantly more participants who reported eating between-meal sugared snacks (52.8%) or those who had visited a dentist (55.6%) reported oral impacts on daily performance, compared to their complimentary groups, which did not. The participants who reported having visited a dental clinic were 1.7 times more likely to report having an impact on daily performance than those who had not been to a dentist. Conclusion: The prevalence of oral impacts on daily performance was high among the adolescents in the current study. The oral impacts were associated more with behaviour than social differences. Having had a dental visit influenced the oral impacts on daily performances. Keywords: adolescents, oral health determinants, quality of life