Oral care reduces pneumonia in older patients in nursing homes.
OBJECTIVE
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.


METHODS
Survey.


METHODS
Eleven nursing homes in Japan.


METHODS
Four hundred seventeen patients randomly assigned to an oral care group or a no oral care group.


METHODS
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.


METHODS
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.


CONCLUSIONS
We suggest that oral care may be useful in preventing pneumonia in older patients in nursing homes.
Yoneyama
Takeyoshi
T
Department of Geriatric and Respiratory Medicine, Tohoku University School of Medicine, 1-1 Seiryo-machi, Aoba-ku, Sendai 980-8574, Japan.
Yoshida
Mitsuyoshi
M
Ohrui
Takashi
T
Mukaiyama
Hideki
H
Okamoto
Hiroshi
H
Hoshiba
Kanji
K
Ihara
Shinichi
S
Yanagisawa
Shozo
S
Ariumi
Shiro
S
Morita
Tomonori
T
Mizuno
Yasuro
Y
Ohsawa
Takayuki
T
Akagawa
Yasumasa
Y
Hashimoto
Kenji
K
Sasaki
Hidetada
H
D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D004245:DMF Index; D016321:Dental Care for Aged; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006707:Homes for the Aged; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009735:Nursing Homes; D011015:Pneumonia, Aspiration / Q000517:prevention & control*