Clinical diagnosis of hyposalivation in hospitalized patients.
OBJECTIVE
The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of clinical criteria for the diagnosis of hyposalivation in hospitalized patients.


METHODS
A clinical study was carried out on 145 subjects (48 males; 97 females; aged 20 to 90 years). Each subject was clinically examined, in the morning and in the afternoon, along 1 day. A focused anamnesis allowed identifying symptoms of hyposalivation, like xerostomia complaints (considered as a reference symptom), chewing difficulty, dysphagia and increased frequency of liquid intake. Afterwards, dryness of the mucosa of the cheeks and floor of the mouth, as well as salivary secretion during parotid gland stimulation were assessed during oral examination.


RESULTS
Results obtained with Chi-square tests showed that 71 patients (48.9%) presented xerostomia complaints, with a significant correlation with all hyposalivation symptoms (p <0.05). Furthermore, xerostomia was also significantly correlated with all data obtained during oral examination in both periods of evaluation (p<0.05).


CONCLUSIONS
Clinical diagnosis of hyposalivation in hospitalized patients is feasible and can provide an immediate and appropriate therapy avoiding further problems and improving their quality of life.
School of Dentistry, Pontifical Catholic University of Paraná, Curitiba, PR, Brazil.
Soraya de Azambuja
Sde A
Berti-Couto
Paulo Henrique
PH
Couto-Souza
Reinhilde
R
Jacobs
Olivia
O
Nackaerts
Izabel Regina Fischer
IR
Rubira-Bullen
Fernando Henrique
FH
Westphalen
Samuel Jorge
SJ
Moysés
Sérgio Aparecido
SA
Ignácio
Maitê Barroso da
MB
Costa
Ana Lúcia
AL
Tolazzi
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002610:Cheek; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D005260:Female; D006760:Hospitalization; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008487:Medical History Taking; D008875:Middle Aged; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D012463:Saliva / Q000378:metabolism; D014987:Xerostomia / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology