Physical and psychological states interfere with health-related quality of life of institutionalized elderly: a cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: Nursing home elders experience many problems that may influence their quality of life, in example of cognitive, mental, nutritional and physical disabilities. Concerning about elders' wellbeing may help them living with dignity. This study aimed to investigate factors associated with Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) of institutionalized elders in a capital city of Brazilian Northeast. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted with 125 institutionalized elders living in the metropolitan region of João Pessoa (Brazil). The following variables were tested regarding their association with the elders' HRQoL: Socio-demographic characteristics; Performance of daily-living activities, Frailty status, Cognitive status, Nutritional status, Self-perception of oral health and Depression status. Hierarchical multiple Poisson loglinear and binary logistic regressions analyses were performed in order to assess the impact of each independent variable on HRQoL, considering a significance level of 5%. RESULTS: The median of HRQoL of institutionalized elders was 64. Multivariate regression models showed that retirement, frailty and depression were statistically associated with poor HRQoL (p < 0.05). Not-frail elderly and less depressed were more likely to present higher HRQoL scores. CONCLUSIONS: Lower HRQoL of institutionalized elderly is associated with decline of physical and psychological states. Institutions should be advised to plan and implement actions that would improve the HRQoL of institutionalized elderly.

Morphological changes of the apical foramen after enlargement: A scoping review of in vitro studies.

Background: To outline the current evidence on root morphological changes after enlarging the apical foramen with NiTi instruments. Material and Methods: A search was performed in the Virtual Health Library, PubMed, EMBASE, Scopus, Web of Science, Science Direct and SciELO databases, in addition to a manual search in Google Scholar, between January 2017 and October 2023. Articles published in English that describe in vitro studies investigating root morphological changes after instrumentation 1 mm beyond the major apical foramen were included. The quality of evidence in the included studies was also analyzed. Results: The search retrieved 367 articles. Of these, four studies were eligible for data synthesis and analysis, all of them in vitro studies. Synthesis of the results of these in vitro studies showed a larger number of root morphological changes such as experimental dentinal microcraks in samples submitted to instrumentation beyond the apical foramen when compared to micro-CT images obtained before preparation. Conclusions: The in vitro studies analyzed in this scoping review indicate that instrumentation beyond the major foramen of the root canal, promotes morphological changes in this area and that the adoption of standardized methodologies would not only increase the accurate detection and characterization of these changes but also facilitate the application of these findings in clinical trials and patient care. Key words:Endodontics, apical morphology, root canal preparation.

Impact of oral health on nutritional status, self-perception of oral health and quality of life of institutionalized elderly.

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to investigate the influence of oral health on nutritional status, self-perception of oral health and health related quality of life of institutionalized elders. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted with 193 institutionalized elders living in the metropolitan region of João Pessoa (Brazil). The independent variables included were: 1) caries experience (DMFT index and its components); 2) use and need of dental prostheses; and 3) type of edentulism. The dependent variables included were related to nutritional status, self-perception of oral health and health-related quality of life. Data were submitted to a descriptive and comparative analysis, through correlation, association and difference tests, considering a significance level of 5% (p<0.05). RESULTS: No statistical significant correlations or associations between the oral health status and nutritional status and quality of life were found (p>0.05). Individuals who did not need prosthesis had higher scores for nutritional status. Self-perception of oral health and health-related quality of life did not vary significantly according to the studied variables. CONCLUSIONS: The oral health status has a limited impact on the nutritional status, and does not impact the self-perception of oral health and quality of life of the institutionalized elders. Key words:Nursing homes, oral health, quality of life.

Fatores associados ao acúmulo de biofilme visível em idosos institucionalizados / Factors associated with visible biofilm accumulation in institutionalized elders

O objetivo desse estudo foi avaliaro acúmulo de biofilme visível e verificar os fatores associados em idosos institucionalizados. Realizou-se um estudo transversal com idosos (n = 193) em instituições de longa permanência (n = 7) da região metropolitana de João Pessoa (PB). A presença de biofilme visível nos dentes e/ou nas próteses dentárias foi considerada como variável dependente. As variáveis independentes do estudo foram: características sociodemográficas, estado físico, hábitos de higiene e presença de agravos bucais. A influência das variáveis independentes sobre as variáveis dependentes foi analisada segundo regressão logística (α < 0,05). Foi possível perceber que a presença de biofilme dental visível (63,3%) está associada com idade superior a 80 anos (OR = 1,53), presença de cálculo dental (OR = 4,91) e frequência de escovação até uma vez ao dia (OR = 1,96). Diante disso, o acúmulo de biofilme visível está associado com avanço da idade, presença de cálculo dental e baixa frequência de higiene.

To evaluate the presence of visible biofilm accumulation and check associated factors in institutionalized elders. We conducted in a cross-sectional study with elders (n=193) from long-term care facilities (n=7) in the metropolitan region of João Pessoa-PB. The presence of visible biofilm in teeth and/or dentures was considered as dependent variable. The independent variables of the study were: socio-demographic characteristics, physical state, hygiene habits, and presence of oral diseases. The influence of independent variables on dependent variables was analyzed according to logistic regression (α<0.05). The presence of visible dental biofilm (IPV) (63.3%) is associated with age over 80 years (PR=1.53), presence of dental calculus (OR=4,91) and brushing frequency up to once a day (OR=1.96). The increase in visible biofilm is associated with advancing age, presence of dental calculus and low frequency of hygiene.