Daniel Danner

Oral health-related quality of life is linked with subjective well-being and depression in early old age

Although a body of research has targeted predictors of well-being and depression in old age, the consideration of oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) as a predictor of these major psychosocial endpoints has been rare in the previous literature. The objective of this study was to test whether OHRQoL is associated with well-being and depression, after controlling for relevant confounders; also, the mediating role of subjective health, a major predictor of both well-being and depression, has been explored. OHRQoL was measured by two commonly used assessment instruments, the geriatric oral health assessment index (GOHAI) and oral health impact profile (OHIP); well-being was assessed by the Philadelphia Geriatric Center Morale Scale (PGCMS) and depression by the self-rating depression scale (SDS). We used a subsample of 197 participants from the older cohort (1930–1932) of the Interdisciplinary Longitudinal Study of Adult Development. Regression models and structural equations modeling (SEM) were used for the test for study variable relationships. Both GOHAI and OHIP revealed significant associations to both PGCMS and SDS at the bivariate level. In regression analyses considering gender, household situation, subjective health, and both OHRQoL indicators, only OHIP remained a significant predictor of well-being and depression. In addition, supportive evidence for a mediating role of subjective health regarding the linkage between OHRQoL and an overall latent construct of well-being was found in the SEM analysis. In conclusion, OHRQoL is significantly linked with well-being and depression in old age, while subjective health is able to mediate the relationship. The generally underrated role of OHRQoL with respect to well-being and depression in late adulthood deserves more attention.

Is the emergence of functional ability decline in early old age related to change in speed of cognitive processing and also to change in personality

Objective: To test whether the onset of functional ability decline in early old age is related to change in speed of cognitive processing and personality characteristics. Method: Among 500 randomly sampled participants, the 230 cases that did not show impairment in functional ability were selected. Mean age at Time 1 was 62.4 years. For this subsample, the emergence of functional ability decline was tracked across a 12-year observation period. Results: The emergence of functional ability decline was related to change in speed of cognitive processing. Decline in functional ability was also related to increased neuroticism and external control, whereas this was not the case regarding extraversion and internal control. Discussion: Cognitive processing speed was shown to be a predictor of functional disability decline; in addition, the results provided initial evidence that functional ability decline in the early aging phase could be accompanied by changes in personality, particularly neuroticism and external control.

Oral health-related quality of life and depression/anxiety in long-term recurrence-free patients after treatment for advanced oral squamous cell cancer

This report focuses on the association between oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) and depression/anxiety of a homogeneous group of cancer patients who were recurrence-free for 8 years after treatment for advanced oral squamous cell. Participants were 24 patients (mean age 55 years, 75% men) treated with neoadjuvant concurrent radiochemotherapy followed by surgery with a mean recurrence-free period of 95 months (from 39 to 164 months). The OHRQoL (OHIP) and the anxiety/depression (HADS) were assessed twice (1 year between t1 and t2). OHRQoL was impaired in this group (mean OHIP score 65 units). In cross-lagged correlation analysis, the correlation between OHRQoL to t1 and depression to t2 was significant and greater than the non-significant correlation for depression to t1 and OHRQoL to t2 indicating that OHRQoL predicts depression better than vice versa. However, the difference in the correlation coefficients was not significant (ZPF-test). The same was true for OHRQoL and anxiety. The OHRQoL measured with the OHIP was impaired in comparison to the normal population. In the limitations of the study design and bearing the small sample size in mind, the results give evidence that OHRQoL predicts psychological outcomes, namely depression and anxiety, better than vice versa.

Psychosomatic or allergic symptoms? High levels for somatization in patients with drug intolerance

Patients with dermatological diseases often have associated psychological problems. For patients with allergic diseases, only a few publications have focused on psychological aspects. The objective of this study was to assess the psychometric profile, including somatization, depression, anxiety and health‐related quality of life (HRQoL), of patients suffering from drug intolerance or hymenoptera venom allergies. In a prospective cohort study design, patients who were admitted to hospital for a challenge test for an alternative drug (n = 49, 24.5% men) or for induction of desensitization therapy with hymenoptera venom (n = 58, 37.9% men) were included. Psychometric screening questionnaires focusing on somatization (Symptom Check List), depression and anxiety (Hospital Anxiety Depression Scale), and also on HRQoL (Short Form questionnaire) were assessed. The scores were compared with population scores and between the two groups. Both groups had significantly higher somatization scores (P ≤ 0.003) than the normal population, and the challenge‐test group had lower HRQoL than the normal population. Between‐group analysis revealed significantly higher somatization scores in the challenge‐test group (P = 0.011) and more impaired HRQoL (physical health domain P < 0.001). Anxiety/depression scores were not significantly different from those of the normal population, or between groups, although abnormally high scores for anxiety were frequent (18% and 12% for the challenge‐test and allergy groups, respectively). Somatization, reduced HRQoL and anxiety seem to be part of the symptoms of patients with allergic diseases, especially for patients with drug intolerance. Standardized questionnaires could help to discover patients who may need psychological support. This may help to improve the patients’ symptoms and quality of life.

Improvement of oral health-related quality-of-life by use of different kinds of double-crown-retained removable partial dentures

Abstract Objective. To verify the hypotheses that treatment with double-crown-retained removable partial dentures (RPDs) improves oral health-related quality-of life (OHRQoL) over a 36-month period and that the performance of RPDs retained by use of electroplated double crowns (EP-RPDs) was different to that of RPDs retained by use of cast double crowns (C-RPDs). Materials and methods. Fifty-four patients (mean age = 64 years, 63% men) were recruited and randomly assigned to C-RPD or EP-RPD. OHRQoL was assessed pre-treatment, post-treatment and 6, 12, 24 and 36 months after insertion, by use of the oral health impact profile (OHIP). An unweighted total score was calculated (OHIP-SUM). A two-level hierarchical model was used for statistical analysis. First-level units were the measurements on the six occasions; second-level units were the patients. Results. Improvement of OHRQoL was observed in both groups after treatment (t = 7.27, p < 0.001). Whereas a treatment–material interaction indicated that treatment with EP-RPDs resulted in greater immediate improvement of OHRQoL, a time–material interaction indicated that long-term improvement was greater for C-RPDs. Conclusions. Treatment with EP-RPDs and C-RPDs improved OHRQoL initially. Over a period of 36 months the effect was significant. The treatment is, therefore, a promising therapeutic option. The cast conical design seems to have advantages with regard to long-term OHRQoL.

Relationships between Personality and Cognitive Ability: A Facet-Level Analysis

A growing body of research supports the notion that cognitive abilities and personality are systematically related. However, this research has focused largely on global personality dimensions and single—often equally global—markers of cognitive ability. The present study offers a more fine-grained perspective. Specifically, it is one of the first studies to comprehensively investigate the associations between both fluid and crystallized intelligence with Big Five personality domains as well as their facets. Based on a heterogeneous sample of the adult population in Germany (N = 365), our study yielded three key findings. First, personality was more strongly related to crystallized intelligence than to fluid intelligence. This applied both to the total variance explained and to the effect sizes of most of the Big Five domains and facets. Second, facets explained a larger share of variance in both crystallized and fluid intelligence than did domains. Third, the associations of different facets of the same domain with cognitive ability differed, often quite markedly. These differential associations may substantially reduce—or even suppress—the domain-level associations. Our findings clearly attest to the added value of a facet-level perspective on the personality–cognitive ability interface. We discuss how such a fine-grained perspective can further theoretical understanding and enhance prediction.

Measuring Individual Differences in Implicit Learning with Artificial Grammar Learning Tasks

Implicit learning can be defined as learning without intention or awareness. We discuss conceptually and investigate empirically how individual differences in implicit learning can be measured with artificial grammar learning (AGL) tasks. We address whether participants should be instructed to rate the grammaticality or the novelty of letter strings and look at the impact of a knowledge test on measurement quality. We discuss these issues from a conceptual perspective and report three experiments which suggest that (1) the reliability of AGL is moderate and too low for individual assessments, (2) a knowledge test decreases task consistency and increases the correlation with reportable grammar knowledge, and (3) performance in AGL tasks is independent from general intelligence and educational attainment.

The impact of respondent attentiveness on reliability and validity

ABSTRACT This study aims to assess whether respondent inattentiveness causes systematic and unsystematic measurement error that influences survey data quality. To determine the impact of (in)attentiveness on the reliability and validity of target measures, we compared respondents from a German online survey (N = 5205) who had passed two attention checks with those who had failed. Our results show that inattentiveness induces both random and systematic measurement error, which impacts estimates of the reliability and validity of multi-item scales. In addition, we conducted a sensitivity analysis, which revealed that the impact of inattentiveness on analyses can be substantial.