アブストラクト（31巻1号：The Bulletin of Kanagawa Dental College）

The Bulletin of Kanagawa Dental College

English

Title　： Effects of Professional Oral Health Care on the ADL of Elderly Patients in a Nursing Home
Subtitle　： ORIGINAL ARTICLES
Authors　： Takayuki Ohsawa1, Takeyoshi Yoneyama2, Kenji Hashimoto3, Eiro Kubota4, Mitsuhiro Ito1, Kazu-ichi Yoshida1
Authors（kana）　：
Organization　： 1Department of Anesthesiology, Kanagawa Dental College, 2Yoneyama Dental Clinic, 3Department of Dentistry & Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Hamamatsu University School of Medicine, 4Second Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Kanagawa Dental College
Journal　： The Bulletin of Kanagawa Dental College
Volume　： 31
Number　： 1
Page　： 51-54
Year/Month　： 2003 / 3
Article　： Original article
Publisher　： Kanagawa Odontological Society
Abstract　： Poor oral hygiene is a common cause of aspiration pneumonia, because the aspiration of bacteria in oropharyngeal secretions is a major risk factor in the elderly. Oral care is, therefore, expected to reduce the risk of pneumonia in the nursing home. We investigated whether oral care decreases the frequency of pneumonia and febrile episodes and how the activity of daily life (ADL) changed. This study was performed on elderly patients in a nursing home for two years. Patients were randomly assigned to either an oral care group or a non-active treatment group. For the oral care group, professional oral health care was performed two or three times a week by a dentist and dental hygienists. On the other days, nurses or caregivers cleaned the patients' teeth with a toothbrush every after meal. We checked the subjects such as the frequency of body temperature higher than 37.8℃, incident rate of pneumonia, and ADL score every six months. Through the application of professional oral health care it was possible to decrease the frequency of febrile episodes and the risk of pneumonia, and also contribute to an improvement in the ADL in elderly patients. These findings underscore the necessity for the monitoring of specific oral hygiene courses for nurses and caregivers in nursing homes.
Practice　： Dentistry
Keywords　： Activity of daily life, Elderly patient, Aspiration pneumonia, Professional oral health care