Factors Associated with Oral Health and Oral Hygiene Status in Long Term Care Facilities

The objective of this study is to determine whether oral health assessment factors commonly used in long-term care institutions are related to important physical and mental examination factors, including the daily life function assessment scale, physical health assessment sheet, mini nutritional assessment MNA, simple mental state assessment form, social adaptation, and psychological assessment form. Materials and Methods: This is a retrospective study that involved residents living in four long-term care service institutions in Xindian, Taiwan. A total of 233 residents who resided in these institutions before March 2021 were included in the study, and 110 residents with complete data were analyzed. Oral care assessments include halitosis severity and tongue coating de-gree. Severity of bad breath was classified into five grades, while degree of tongue coating was divided into three grades. Relevant factors were selected from routine physical and men¬tal examinations, such as history of hospitalization for pneumonia, eating or feeding duration, presence of dysphagia, cognitive function status, depression severity, functional status, nutri¬tional status, and body mass index. Chi-square and Fisher’s exact tests were used for analysis, with the prevalence ratio calculated for each independent variable in relation to the outcome at a 95% confidence level. Results: The study found no significant relationship between the severity of halitosis/ tongue coating accumulation and several variables, including hospitalization history of pneumonia, duration of eating or feeding, type of food eaten, denture wearing, cognitive function status, severity of depression, functional status, nutritional status, and body mass index. Conclusion: In conclusion, while our study did not find significant associations between halito¬sis/tongue coating accumulation and various potential risk factors in nursing home residents. Study with more participants more comprehensive oral examinations may be conducted in the future to better understand the underlying causes of halitosis in this population.