The knowledge about periodontal health of northeastern Italian pharmacists: a cross-sectional survey.

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to determine the knowledge of periodontal health and prevention of periodontal diseases of a pool of pharmacists working in Friuli Venezia Giulia. METHODS: A 22-questions questionnaire about oral health was sent by mail to all the pharmacies working in Friuli Venezia Giulia and to the most known associations of pharmacists. The data were collected and analyzed by Google Forms software. RESULTS: One-hundred sixty-four questionnaires were analyzed. Ninety-one percent of the pharmacists assert to give advice about prevention and treatment of oral affection during professional practice, but 97% never attended university courses about it. Only 21% took part in postgraduate courses about oral health. Most of them have not enough notions about periodontal disease. CONCLUSIONS: The findings from this study highlight that pharmacists have not enough knowledge about periodontal disease and its treatment but every day they provide advice about oral health. It would be appropriate a better organization of postgraduate courses about oral health and prevention of periodontal diseases.

Constructional apraxia screening and oral health among hospitalized older adults: A cross-sectional study.

AIMS: Apraxia may hinder oral self-care and is associated with poor oral hygiene. Intersecting Pentagons Test (IPT) is a simple screening tool for constructional apraxia (CA) that tests the ability to copy a bidimensional figure. In this study we investigated whether IPT is useful to identify subjects that need interventions to support oral health in a cohort of geriatric inpatients. METHODS AND RESULTS: We assessed oral health through the decayed, missing or filled teeth index, plaque index, and periodontal screening and recording tool. We inquired about autonomy in oral hygiene activities through a standardized questionnaire. Among subjects with CA (273 out of 478 hospitalized subjects aged > 65 years) we found a higher prevalence of edentulism (P = 0.04), periodontal disease (PD) (P = 0.03), and dependence in oral hygiene activities (P < 0.001). Only 34.8% of nonautonomous apraxic patients had a caregiver that supplied oral care. In an age and sex-adjusted generalized linear model, IPT proved to be an independent predictor of dependence in oral care, reaching 61.5% sensitivity in identifying dependent patients. CONCLUSION: Among elderly inpatients, there is a significant association between IPT results, poor oral health status, and dependence in oral hygiene activities. Positivity to IPT should prompt proper device counseling and caregiver education.

Oral health status as predictor of 1-year mortality after discharge from an acute geriatric unit.

PURPOSE: Predicting mortality of older patients is a difficult, yet crucial task, which has lead to development of several prognostic tools. We hypothesized that the evaluation of oral health, which is often neglected, might be helpful to improve 1-year mortality prediction in a cohort of patients > 65 years admitted to an acute geriatric unit. METHODS: We assessed 200 patients using the Decayed, Missing or Filled Teeth tool, the Periodontal Screening and Recording tool and the Plaque Index. A comprehensive geriatric assessment was performed to measure functional, cognitive, nutritional and comorbidity status and to calculate the Multidimensional Prognostic Index (MPI). An age- and sex-adjusted regression model was used to identify independent predictors of 1-year mortality. Area under ROC curve (AUROC) was calculated to assess predictive accuracy of MPI risk groups before and after correction for dental examination results. RESULTS: Plaque Index and Periodontal Screening and Recording tool were associated with 1-year mortality. Participants with periodontal disease had a fivefold higher risk of death (p < 0.001). Conversely, absence of periodontal disease identified with high specificity (96.6%) participants who were still alive 1 year after discharge. Periodontal disease was an independent predictor of 1-year mortality in a regression model adjusted for age, sex and other variables of the comprehensive geriatric assessment. The correction of MPI according to results of Periodontal Screening and Recording tool significantly improved AUROC from 0.62 to 0.68 (p < 0.003). CONCLUSION: Oral health evaluation, if integrated in the comprehensive geriatric assessment, improves estimation of 1-year mortality in hospitalized patients.