Oral health assessment in domiciliary care service planning of older people

Oral status of older adults receiving home medical care: A cross-sectional study

AIM

This study examined the oral status and the presence of teeth requiring treatment among older adults receiving home medical care.

METHODS

This cross-sectional study was conducted at a Japanese dental clinic specializing in geriatric treatment. We recruited older adults receiving home medical care in the community who had begun to receive domiciliary dental care. The Japanese version of the Oral Health Assessment Tool (OHAT-J), as well as the presence of teeth requiring extraction and the need for assistance in maintaining oral hygiene were used to evaluate the participants' oral health and its association with other items.

RESULTS

Ninety-three participants (44 male and 49 female, median age: 87.0 years) were surveyed. The median OHAT-J score was 6. The duration since the previous dental visit was 23 months. Sixty-two (73.8%) of 84 participants with ≥1 natural tooth had severe caries or teeth with severe mobility that required extraction. Logistic analysis revealed that requiring assistance in maintaining oral hygiene, mild dementia, severe dementia, and depression were significantly associated with an OHAT score of ≥6.

CONCLUSIONS

Older adults receiving home medical care had poor oral health, with approximately 70% of them requiring tooth extraction. The need for assistance in maintaining oral hygiene and poor mental status contribute to poor oral health. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2024; 24: 706-714.

Oral health-related quality of life among home-dwelling older people with and without domiciliary care

OBJECTIVES

The aim was to compare oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) between home-dwelling older people with and without domiciliary care when adjusted for gender, education, use of dental services and removable dental prostheses.

BACKGROUND

OHRQoL of home-dwelling older people with and without domiciliary care is a neglected area of research, with few studies having been conducted.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A secondary analysis was conducted on the Finnish Health 2011 interview data. Home-dwelling participants (age ≥ 70) with or without domiciliary care were included (n = 758). OHRQoL was measured with the Oral Health Impact Profile questionnaire (OHIP-14) calculating three outcomes: prevalence of at least one impact reported: "occasionally," "fairly often" or "very often" (OFoVo), severity as mean sum score and mean of the seven OHIP-14 dimensions. These were evaluated by use of domiciliary care using logistic and negative binomial regression analyses.

RESULTS

Domiciliary care clients tended to have poorer OHRQoL than non-clients (severity mean 4.33 vs 4.11, P = .057), especially men (6.71 vs 4.15, P = .027), and reported more psychological discomfort than non-clients (mean 1.10 vs 0.82, P = .039). The use of removable dental prostheses was the strongest predictor (OR 2.84, P < .001) of poor OHRQoL.

CONCLUSION

Domiciliary care clients tended to report poorer OHRQoL, especially with regard to psychological discomfort dimension than non-clients. Thus, support of oral hygiene and regular utilisation of oral health services should be part of domiciliary care among older people to enhance OHRQoL.

A Qualitative Evaluation of the Implementation of an Oral Care Program in Home Care Nursing

An Oral Care Program (OCP) was implemented in home care nursing teams in a northern province of the Netherlands to improve the oral health and hygiene of older people who make use of formal home care in 2018-2019. The aim of the current study was to evaluate the experiences of the stakeholders involved (older people, home-care nurses and dental hygienists) and to report the experienced impact of OCP, with a qualitative approach. Three dental hygienists, nine home care nurses, and eight older people were interviewed with semi-structured interviews, which were audio recorded, transcribed and analyzed using thematic analysis. The codes derived were grouped into nine main themes. OCP was experienced as mostly positive by all stakeholders involved. The educational part lead to more awareness towards oral care, but should be repeated regularly. Personalized oral care plans for older people were experienced positively, however, obtaining oral care behavior changes appeared to be difficult. Collaboration between dental hygienists and home care nurses lead to a positive experience from both sides The method and intensity of collaboration varied between the teams. To provide better access to oral health care for older people in the community, a long term collaboration between home care nursing teams and dental care professionals in their working area should be established.

Perceived oral health and oral health behaviours among home-dwelling older people with and without domiciliary care

OBJECTIVES

The aim was to compare the perceived oral health and oral health behaviours of home-dwelling older people with and without domiciliary care.

BACKGROUND

Oral health is poor in long-term care, but less is known about perceived oral health of home-dwelling older people receiving domiciliary care.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Data from the Health 2000 and Health 2011 surveys (BRIF8901) were used. Interview participants were at least 70 years old and living at home with or without domiciliary care (n = 1298 in 2000 and n = 1027 in 2011). Differences in perceived oral health (subjective oral health, pain, eating difficulties) and oral health behaviours (hygiene, use of services) were compared based on the use of domiciliary care and stratified by gender. Differences between groups were compared with the chi-square test.

RESULTS

In 2011, compared to non-clients, domiciliary care clients more often had poor subjective oral health (40.3% vs. 28.9%, P = .045). In both surveys, they also used oral health services less recently (2000, 76.4% vs. 60.9%; and 2011, 61.1% vs. 46.6%) and more often had difficulties chewing hard food (2000, 50.6% vs. 34%, P < .001; and 2011, 38.4% vs. 20.7%, P < .001) than non-clients. In 2000, clients had more difficulty eating dry food without drinking (39.5% vs. 21.6%, P < .001) and cleaning their teeth and mouth (14.3% vs. 1.1%, P < .001) than non-clients. Women clients in 2011 brushed their teeth less often than non-clients (43.5% vs. 23.7%, respectively, P = .001).

CONCLUSION

Domiciliary care clients have poorer perceived oral health, and greater difficulties with eating and oral hygiene maintenance than non-clients.