Impact of licit and illicit substances on the oral health-related quality of life in adolescents

Abstract

Objective: To assess the impact of the consumption of licit and illicit substances on the oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) of adolescents from public schools in the south of Brazil. Methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out with a random sample of adolescents aged between 17 and 18 years old from Santa Maria, Brazil. The consumption of licit and illicit substances was measured through a self-administered questionnaire with questions from the National Survey of Scholar Health. The OHRQoL was collected using the Brazilian short version of Child Perceptions Questionnaire 11-14 (CPQ11-14). Multilevel Poisson regression models were used to estimate the association between the outcome and the explanatory variables where the adolescents (first level) were nested in their schools (second level). Results: A total of 768 adolescents were evaluated. Of these, about 15.6% have already used illegal substances. Adolescents who reported the use of illicit substances had 28% higher CPQ11-14 scores when compared to their counterparts. Alcohol use was also related to worse levels of OHRQoL, while the consumption of cigarettes acted as a protective factor. Conclusions: This study found an association between the use of alcohol and illicit drugs with worse levels of OHRQoL.