title: Assessment of dentally related functional competency for older adults with cognitive impairment--a survey for special-care dental professionals.
abstract: This survey was to study whether and how dental professional assess dental-related function in older adults with cognitive impairment (OACI). An invitation was sent to 525 special-care dental professionals, followed by a reminder in 2 weeks. Thirteen percent of the targeted participants completed the survey. Among them, 88% completed a hospital dentistry, geriatric dentistry, or other postgraduate training program. Nearly 70% of the respondents considered somewhat to very difficult to assess dentally related function; 45% did not ever or did not regularly assess dental-related function for OACI. Dental-related functional assessments were often based on a subjective, unstructured approach. Only 6% of the respondents routinely used standard instruments to assess the patients' function. These results indicate that an objective functional assessment based on a standardized instrument has not been routinely incorporated into dental care for OACI, raising concerns for quality of care in this vulnerable population.
authors: Department of Dental Ecology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA. xi_chen@dentistry.unc.edu
authors: Xi
authors: X
authors: Chen
authors: Jennifer J J
authors: JJ
authors: Clark
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000368:Aged; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology; D003142:Communication; D032882:Comprehension / Q000502:physiology; D003742:Dental Devices, Home Care; D003796:Dental Service, Hospital; D003812:Dentist-Patient Relations; D003778:Dentures; D004032:Diet; D004358:Drug Therapy; D005260:Female; D015577:Geriatric Assessment; D005850:Geriatric Dentistry; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D016743:Mental Competency / Q000523:psychology; D020380:Needs Assessment; D009910:Oral Hygiene; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D012648:Self Care; D013039:Specialties, Dental; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014099:Toothbrushing