Intensity and extent of oral impacts on daily performances by type of self-perceived oral problems.

The objectives of this study were to determine the prevalence, intensity, and extent of the impacts caused by oral problems, and to compare their intensity and extent by the type of oral problem. Four of seven public schools linked to a Health Center in Lima, Peru, were randomly selected as clusters, and 805 11-12-yr-old children participated in the study (response rate: 89.1%). The Spanish (Peru) child version of the Oral Impact of Daily Performances (Child-OIDP) was used to assess oral impacts. The prevalence of oral impacts was 82.0%. Eating was the daily performance most frequently impacted (48.0%). Among children with impacts, 24.8% reported impacts of severe to very severe intensity, and 73.2% reported impacts affecting between one and three daily performances. When the intensity and extent of the eight most frequently reported oral problems were compared, a statistically significant difference was found only for the extent but not for the intensity of the impacts. Oral impacts on daily performances were very common and relatively severe among the participating Peruvian children. The pattern of the impacts differed according to the type of self-perceived oral problem. However, the differences were reflected in the extent, but not in the intensity, of the impacts.