Halbig disputerer for ph.d.-graden i helsevitenskap og vil offentlig forsvare avhandlingen:
Aspects of Oral Health in Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis - Oral health-related quality of life, orofacial symptoms, and temporomandibular disorder in children and adolescents with juvenile idiopathic arthritis
Avhandlingen er tilgjengelig her! / The doctoral thesis is available here!
Disputasen strømmes og et opptak vil være tilgjengelig i et døgn.
The defense will be streamed, and a recording of the disputation will be available for 24 hours.
Prøveforelesning over oppgitt emne starter kl. 10.15 / The trial lecture starts at 10.15
Tittel/Title: «Smerte – hvilke faktorer har betydning for smerteopplevelsen hos barn og ungdom?»
Prøveforelesningen strømmes her / The trial lecture will be streamed here.
Disputasen starter kl. 12.15 / The defense starts at 12.15
Disputasen strømmes her / The defense will be streamed here
Populærvitenskapelig sammendrag av avhandlingen/ Summary of the thesis:
Juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) is the most common childhood rheumatic condition and may affect the jaw in nearly half of the children.
In this PhD thesis, we took a closer look at oral health and quality of life in children and teens with JIA compared to their peers who did not have the condition. We focused on two tools for measuring oral health-related quality of life (ECOHIS and Child-OIDP) and additionally examined how well children and their parents agree on symptoms affecting their mouths and faces.
As part of the Norwegian JIA study (norjia.com), we followed 228 children with JIA and their matched peers over two years.
We discovered that children with JIA often deal with more orofacial pain, mouth sores, and discomfort during everyday activities like brushing their teeth. These oral health issues were strongly associated with a lower quality of life, particularly for those who had active disease or experienced jaw problems.
While we found that ECOHIS and Child-OIDP could effectively measure oral health at a single moment, these tools struggled to demonstrate changes over time reliably. In an additional study with 34 child-parent pairs from Aarhus, Denmark, we noticed only a moderate level of agreement between children and their parents in reporting orofacial symptoms, with better alignment noted in older children.
These findings underline the importance of collaboration between pediatric rheumatologists, dentists, and dental specialists to address the specific oral health issues faced by children with JIA. By concentrating on those with high disease activity and jaw-related complications, healthcare professionals may enhance daily functioning and improve the overall well-being of these young individuals.
Veileder/ Supervisor:
Hovedveileder/Main supervisor:
Professor Ellen Berit Nordal, Institutt for klinisk medisin, Det helsevitenskapelige fakultet, UiT Norges arktiske universitet.
Bedømmelseskomité/Defensecomitee:
Førsteamanuensis Heming Olsen-Bergem, Universitetet i Oslo – 1. opponent.
Lektor, ph.d. Anne Estmann Christensen, Syddansk Universitet – 2. opponent.
Professor Sigbjørn Løes, Institutt for klinisk odontologi, Institutt for klinisk medisin, Det helsevitenskapelige fakultet, UiT Norges arktiske universitet – leder av komité.
Disputasleder/ Leader of defense:
Professor Christer Einvik, Institutt for klinisk medisin, Det helsevitenskapelige fakultet, UiT Norges arktiske universitet.
When: 03.10.25 kl 10.15–16.00
Where:
Auditorium Cortex, plan 7, MH Vest
Location / Campus: Digitalt, Tromsø
Target group: Employees, Students, Guests, Invited, Enhet
Contact: Andrea Jennerwein
E-mail: andrea.jennerwein@uit.no