Systemic and oral health status of older adult inpatients in an intensive care unit

Abstract

Objective: To assess the systemic and oral health status of geriatric patients hospitalized in an intensive care unit (ICU). Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study of a convenience sample of 78 older ICU inpatients. A single calibrated examiner collected demographic and clinical data by analyzing patients’ records and assessing their oral cavities. Descriptive data analysis was performed to a 5.00% significance level. All patients provided informed consent and were conscious during the oral health assessment. Results: The mean age was 77.69 years and 51.28% of the sample were male. The main reasons patients were admitted to the ICU investigated were postoperative conditions (23.08%) and cardiac abnormalities (20.51%). Systemic arterial hypertension (69.23%) was the most prevalent comorbidity and patients were being treated with anticoagulants (57.69%) and antimicrobials (53.85%). Most patients did not receive oral care (64.10%), while 29.49% of them received it only once, and 57.69% were denture users. The mean decayed, missing, and filled teeth index was 23.74 (17.44 missing teeth, on average) and majorities had tongue biofilm (71.79%) and unsatisfactory oral hygiene during their time in hospital (84.62%). Conclusion: The oral status of hospitalized geriatric patients was characterized by poor hygiene and edentulism.