TY - JOUR
T1 - Oral care reduces pneumonia in older patients in nursing homes
AU - Yoneyama, Takeyoshi
AU - Yoshida, Mitsuyoshi
AU - Ohrui, Takashi
AU - Mukaiyama, Hideki
AU - Okamoto, Hiroshi
AU - Hoshiba, Kanji
AU - Ihara, Shinichi
AU - Yanagisawa, Shozo
AU - Ariumi, Shiro
AU - Morita, Tomonori
AU - Mizuno, Yasuro
AU - Ohsawa, Takayuki
AU - Akagawa, Yasumasa
AU - Hashimoto, Kenji
AU - Sasaki, Hidetada
PY - 2002
Y1 - 2002
N2 - OBJECTIVES: Aspiration of oral secretions and their bacteria is increasingly being recognized as an important factor in pneumonia. We investigated whether oral care lowers the frequency of pneumonia in institutionalized older people. DESIGN: Survey. SETTING: Eleven nursing homes in Japan. PARTICIPANTS: Four hundred seventeen patients randomly assigned to an oral care group or a no oral care group. INTERVENTION: Nurses or caregivers cleaned the patients' teeth by toothbrush after each meal. Swabbing with povidone iodine was additionally used in some cases. Dentists or dental hygienists provided professional care once a week. MEASUREMENTS: Pneumonia, febrile days, death from pneumonia, activities of daily living, and cognitive functions. RESULTS: During follow-up, pneumonia, febrile days, and death from pneumonia decreased significantly in patients with oral care. Oral care was beneficial in edentate and dentate patients. Activities of daily living and cognitive functions showed a tendency to improve with oral care. CONCLUSION: We suggest that oral care may be useful in preventing pneumonia in older patients in nursing homes.
AB - OBJECTIVES: Aspiration of oral secretions and their bacteria is increasingly being recognized as an important factor in pneumonia. We investigated whether oral care lowers the frequency of pneumonia in institutionalized older people. DESIGN: Survey. SETTING: Eleven nursing homes in Japan. PARTICIPANTS: Four hundred seventeen patients randomly assigned to an oral care group or a no oral care group. INTERVENTION: Nurses or caregivers cleaned the patients' teeth by toothbrush after each meal. Swabbing with povidone iodine was additionally used in some cases. Dentists or dental hygienists provided professional care once a week. MEASUREMENTS: Pneumonia, febrile days, death from pneumonia, activities of daily living, and cognitive functions. RESULTS: During follow-up, pneumonia, febrile days, and death from pneumonia decreased significantly in patients with oral care. Oral care was beneficial in edentate and dentate patients. Activities of daily living and cognitive functions showed a tendency to improve with oral care. CONCLUSION: We suggest that oral care may be useful in preventing pneumonia in older patients in nursing homes.
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/0036119186
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/0036119186#tab=citedBy
U2 - 10.1046/j.1532-5415.2002.50106.x
DO - 10.1046/j.1532-5415.2002.50106.x
M3 - Article
C2 - 11943036
AN - SCOPUS:0036119186
SN - 0002-8614
VL - 50
SP - 430
EP - 433
JO - Journal of the American Geriatrics Society
JF - Journal of the American Geriatrics Society
IS - 3
ER -