Objective: Assessment of the orthodontic treatment complexity and need of the sickle cell anaemia (SCA) patients in a teaching hospital in Nigeria in comparison with their ‘normal’ counterparts; and correlated with their oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL).
Methods: It was a case-control analytical prospective study of two hundred laboratory-confirmed SCA patients aged 10-35 years who came for routine medical care at the teaching hospital over a 17-month period. They were all clinically examined using the Dental Aesthetic Index (DAI) and the Index of Complexity, Outcome and Need (ICON) while information on their oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) was gathered using the shortened Oral Health Impact Profile questionnaire (OHIP-14). Control group of 200 ‘normal’ subjects was also assessed using the same instruments. The data were analyzed using descriptive, parametric and non-parametric statistics.
Results: The overall mean DAI and ICON scores for the SCA subjects were higher than the control group and statistically significant for the ICON scores [SCA subjects, DAI: 31.04 + 11.14 (SD); ICON: 47. 25 + 23.07 (SD); control subjects, DAI: 29.49 + 10.56 (SD); ICON: 41.99 + 17.39 (SD)]. Although the SCA subjects had statistically poorer OHRQoL than the control (P < .01), no significant positive correlations were found between the OHRQoL of the subjects and their orthodontic treatment complexity and need.
Conclusions: SCA patients were found with higher orthodontic treatment need and more complex cases and suffered more oral health impact than the 'normal' subjects.
Keywords: Haemoglobin S, Orthodontic Complexity / Need, Quality of life.