Oral health, quality of life and general health of people from refugee and asylum-seeking backgrounds from South Asia and the Middle East resettled in South Australia: a cross sectional survey

Objective: Poor oral health has important consequences for quality of life and general health and wellbeing. People from refugee and asylum-seeking backgrounds report worse oral health and face a range of oral health service access barriers. However, there is limited research examining the impact of poor oral health on other health outcomes for refugees and asylum seekers. This paper sought to examine oral health status and dental service use of people from refugee and asylum-seeking backgrounds from South Asia and the Middle East and impacts on self- reported quality of life and general health.

Methods: A convenience sample of 206 people from refugee and asylum seeker backgrounds from Syria, Afghanistan, Iran and Iraq who had been in Australia for less than 10 years completed a structured questionnaire, recruited through service and community organisations and snowball sampling. The survey included key demographic variables, service use history, general and oral health ratings and the Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP-14). Descriptive statistics were used to provide a picture of overall oral health status and multivariable logistic regression was undertaken to explore the predictors of oral health related quality of life as well as general health. Results: Around a third of participants had never visited a dentist or not within the last 5 years. For more than two thirds the reason for their last dental visit was pain relief, with over 60% reporting toothache caused by decayed teeth sometimes/often/very often. In terms of barriers to dental visits, 64% reported not visiting the dentist due to cost barriers and 55% reported at least moderate fear and distress about dental visits. More than two thirds reported oral health impacts on at least one quality of life domain and 79% felt that their teeth affected their general health at least moderately. In a logistic regression, oral health rating was significantly associated with having at least one OHIP domain affected by oral health for women and men well as general health rating for women only. Conclusions: This study highlights the significant barriers to good oral health for people from refugee and asylum-seeking backgrounds and the broader impacts of poor oral health on quality of life and general health. The findings indicate the importance of better oral health supports for new arrivals, including facilitation of access to affordable dental care and culturally appropriate health promotion interventions.