TY - JOUR
T1 - Daily oral care and cough reflex sensitivity in elderly nursing home patients
AU - Watando, Aya
AU - Ebihara, Satoru
AU - Ebihara, Takae
AU - Okazaki, Tatsuma
AU - Takahashi, Hidenori
AU - Asada, Masanori
AU - Sasaki, Hidetada
N1 - Funding Information:
This study was supported by a Grant-In-Aid for Scientific Research from the Ministry of Education, Science and Culture (No. 15590795) of the Japanese government to Dr. Ebihara.
PY - 2004/10
Y1 - 2004/10
N2 - Background: Intensive oral care can reduce the incidence of pneumonia in elderly nursing home patients, but the mechanism is unknown. Objective: To explore the effects of intensive oral care on impaired cough reflex sensitivity, which is a known risk factor of aspiration pneumonia. Methods: Cough reflex sensitivity to citric acid was measured in elderly nursing home patients, who were randomly assigned to the intervention group (n = 30) and the control group (n = 29). The patients in the intervention group had their teeth and gingiva cleaned by caregivers after every meal for 1 month. The patients in the control group performed their own oral care during the same period. Serum substance P (SP) concentration, cognitive function, and activities of daily living (ADL) were also assessed. Results: In the intervention group, cough reflex sensitivity at 30 days showed significantly higher sensitivity than baseline (p < 0.01). At 30 days, the cough reflex sensitivities in the intervention group were significantly higher than that of the control group (p < 0.05). Compared with the control group, the odds ratio of improvement of cough reflex sensitivity was 5.3 (95% confidence interval, 1.7 to 16.0; p < 0.005) for the intervention group. One month of intensive oral care did not have a significant effect on serum SP concentration, cognitive function, and ADL. Conclusion: Intensive oral care may reduce the incidence of pneumonia by improving cough reflex sensitivity in elderly nursing home patients.
AB - Background: Intensive oral care can reduce the incidence of pneumonia in elderly nursing home patients, but the mechanism is unknown. Objective: To explore the effects of intensive oral care on impaired cough reflex sensitivity, which is a known risk factor of aspiration pneumonia. Methods: Cough reflex sensitivity to citric acid was measured in elderly nursing home patients, who were randomly assigned to the intervention group (n = 30) and the control group (n = 29). The patients in the intervention group had their teeth and gingiva cleaned by caregivers after every meal for 1 month. The patients in the control group performed their own oral care during the same period. Serum substance P (SP) concentration, cognitive function, and activities of daily living (ADL) were also assessed. Results: In the intervention group, cough reflex sensitivity at 30 days showed significantly higher sensitivity than baseline (p < 0.01). At 30 days, the cough reflex sensitivities in the intervention group were significantly higher than that of the control group (p < 0.05). Compared with the control group, the odds ratio of improvement of cough reflex sensitivity was 5.3 (95% confidence interval, 1.7 to 16.0; p < 0.005) for the intervention group. One month of intensive oral care did not have a significant effect on serum SP concentration, cognitive function, and ADL. Conclusion: Intensive oral care may reduce the incidence of pneumonia by improving cough reflex sensitivity in elderly nursing home patients.
KW - Cough reflex
KW - Oral care
KW - Substance P
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U2 - 10.1378/chest.126.4.1066
DO - 10.1378/chest.126.4.1066
M3 - Article
C2 - 15486365
AN - SCOPUS:6344221808
SN - 0012-3692
VL - 126
SP - 1066
EP - 1070
JO - Chest
JF - Chest
IS - 4
ER -