title: Activities of daily living and oral hygiene status of older Korean patients in a long-term care facility.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study investigated the relationship between oral hygiene conditions, activities of daily living (ADL) and cognitive ability in older Korean patients in long-term care facilities.
  
  
  METHODS
  Ninety older persons (65+) were randomly sampled from a possible 112 residents in a single facility. They participated in a 2-month-long survey. The Korean Modified Barthel Index was used to measure the ADL, and cognitive ability was measured using the Mini-Mental State Examination, Korean version. Oral hygiene status was measured using the Simplified Oral Hygiene Index and the Tongue Coating Index (TCI).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Older participants with complete dependence manifested significantly poorer oral hygiene (P < 0.05). Scores on the TCI were significantly higher in participants who were dentulous with partial dependence (P < 0.05). A multiple regression analysis showed that dependence and being dentulous significantly predicted poorer oral hygiene (P < 0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study suggests that older participants with complete dependence had poor oral hygiene on tooth surfaces, while participants with partial dependence had poor tongue hygiene. In addition, dentulous older participants had poorer tongue hygiene than edentulous ones. This indicates the need to assess tooth status and provide oral care services via ADL in long-term care facilities.
authors.affiliation: Department of Dental Hygiene, Wonju College of Medicine, Yonsei University, Republic of Korea.|Department and Research Institute of Dental Biomaterials and Bioengineering, College of Dentistry, Yonsei University, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: H-Y
authors.initials: HY
authors.lastname: Seo
authors.affiliation: Research Institute for Dental Care Policy, Korean Dental Association, Republic of Korea.|Health Policy Institute, Korean Dental Association, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: J-E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Jeon
authors.affiliation: Department of Dental Hygiene, Wonju College of Medicine, Yonsei University, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: W-G
authors.initials: WG
authors.lastname: Chung
authors.affiliation: Department of Dental Hygiene, Wonju College of Medicine, Yonsei University, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: N-H
authors.initials: NH
authors.lastname: Kim
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living / Q000145:classification*; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D005260:Female; D006707:Homes for the Aged; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009735:Nursing Homes; D009911:Oral Hygiene Index; D056910:Republic of Korea; D013223:Statistics as Topic
keywords: activities of daily living; dental hygiene profession; dental hygienists; long-term care; older persons; oral hygiene; oral hygiene index