Page 89 - Demo

Alveolar iodine tampon packing after impacted third molar surgery improves oral health-related quality of life875OHIP-NL14 questionnaireThe participants completed a version of the OHIP-14 that has been translated into Dutch (OHIP-NL14) and evaluated by Van der Meulen et al. [21]. The OHIPNL14 shows very good internal consistency and reliability (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.90; intraclass correlation coefficient = 0.80) [22]. The questions from the OHIP questionnaire are answered on a 5-point scale that varies from never (0) to very often (4). The total score of the OHIP-14 ranges from 0 to 56, and the separate domain scores provide information regarding the level at which the consequences of the oral problem occur. A higher score on the OHIP-14 indicates a lower quality of life of the patient.Pain intensity We measured pain intensity using an 11-point pain intensity numerical rating scale (PI-NRS). Patients were asked to enter their pain score, ranging from 0 (no pain) to 10 (worst possible pain) on each day of the first postoperative week. Several studies have provided strong support of the validity and reliability of the PI-NRS for detecting changes in pain intensity [23–24].Self-care and discomfortSelf-care and discomfort were measured daily during the first postoperative week. Patients also recorded their intake of prescribed and over-the-counter (OTC) medications. On postoperative day 1 (POD1), the patient reported the number of hours that they used ice packs to cool their cheek on the side of surgery. Patients were also asked to keep a daily record of the presence of swelling, trismus, pain, or inflammatory complications—giving a response of “yes” or “no” for each.Statistical analysisThe sample was characterized using conventional descriptive statistics. The Chi2-test was used to examine associations between categorical variables. Mean scores of multiple measurements in the same subjects were compared using ANOVA for repeated measures. The mean scores between two repeated measurements were compared using the paired-samples t-test. For skewed data (number of painkillers), analysis was repeated using the Friedman test and the Wilcoxon signed-rank test. An alpha of 5% was set as the level of significance.