Evaluation of the Simplified Oral Hygiene Index and Community Periodontal Index in Patients With Major β-Thalassemia: A Case-Control Study

Abstract

Background: This study aimed to compare periodontal health between thalassemia patients and healthy individuals by assessing the Simplified Oral Hygiene Index (OHI-S) and the Community Periodontal Index (CPI).

Materials and methods: This analytic case-control study was conducted at two centers in Tehran, Iran, involving 80 thalassemia patients (case group) and 80 healthy individuals (control group), matched by sex and age (15-25 years). Demographic data, OHI-S, and CPI were collected from all participants. For group comparisons, the Mann-Whitney U test was used for non-normally distributed data, while the Kruskal-Wallis test was employed for multiple comparisons. Multiple logistic regression and ANOVA were also applied. All statistical analyses were conducted using SPSS version 20, with a significance level set at 0.05.

Results: The two groups showed statistically significant differences in the CPI and OHI-S indexes (p < 0.05). The multiple logistic regression model revealed that thalassemia affects the OHI-S index but not the CPI index.

Conclusion: Patients with thalassemia major experience more severe periodontal disease than healthy individuals. Given the study's limitations, further research is recommended to investigate the risk factors for periodontal problems in thalassemia patients.

Keywords: oral hygiene index; periodontal index; thalassemia.