title: Poor Oral Health Linked with Increased Risk of Infectious Complications in Adults with Leukemia.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The objective of this study is to examine the impact of the presence of gingivitis/periodontitis on the occurrence of infectious complications (including septicemia, bacterial infections, and mycoses) in hospitalized leukemic adults in the United States.
  
  
  METHODS
  A retrospective analysis of the Nationwide Inpatient Sample (NIS) for the years 2004-2010 was performed. All hospitalized leukemic patients aged 18 to 65 years were selected. The association between occurrence of gingivitis/periodontitis and infectious complications was examined by multivariable logistic regression models. A total of 135,692 hospitalizations were due to leukemias during the study period. Among these, gingivitis/periodontitis was present in 0.6%. Septicemia occurred in 27.8% of those who had gingivitis/periodontitis (compared to 19.6% in those without gingivitis/periodontitis), bacterial infections occurred in 19.5% of those who had gingivitis/periodontitis (compared to 10.1% in those without gingivitis/periodontitis), and mycoses occurred in 20.7% of those who had gingivitis/periodontitis (compared to 10.7% in those without gingivitis/periodontitis). Patients who had gingivitis/periodontitis were associated with significantly higher odds for septicemia (OR = 1.58, 95% CI = 1.14-2.19, p = 0.01), bacterial infections (OR = 2.15, 95% CI = 1.51-3.07, p<0.01), mycoses (OR = 2.16, 95% CI = 1.43-3.28, p<0.01), or any infectious complication (OR = 2.15, 95% CI = 1.63-2.84, p<0.01) when compared to their counterparts following adjustment for multiple patient and hospital-level confounding factors.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Poor oral health (as defined by the presence of gingivitis/periodontitis) is an independent predictor of increased risk of infectious complications in hospitalized leukemic adults in the United States.
authors.forename: Veerasathpurush
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Allareddy
authors.forename: Sivaraman
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Prakasam
authors.forename: Veerajalandhar
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Allareddy
authors.forename: Natalia I
authors.initials: NI
authors.lastname: Martinez-Schlurmann
authors.forename: Sankeerth
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Rampa
authors.forename: Romesh P
authors.initials: RP
authors.lastname: Nalliah
authors.forename: Sridhar V K
authors.initials: SV
authors.lastname: Eswaran
authors.forename: Satheesh
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Elangovan
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001424:Bacterial Infections / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D005491:Focal Infection, Dental / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005891:Gingivitis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D007938:Leukemia / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015464:Leukemia, Myelogenous, Chronic, BCR-ABL Positive / Q000453:epidemiology; D015470:Leukemia, Myeloid, Acute / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009181:Mycoses / Q000453:epidemiology; D009894:Opportunistic Infections / Q000453:epidemiology; D009909:Oral Health; D010518:Periodontitis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D054198:Precursor Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma / Q000453:epidemiology; D015995:Prevalence; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D018805:Sepsis / Q000453:epidemiology; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D055815:Young Adult