Methods: Oral examinations were performed monthly and oral samples were collected from subjects in a state managed facility in Louisville, Kentucky from July 2005 through January 2006. The samples taken from the teeth and tongue were analyzed for potential respiratory pathogens. The participating subjects' medical records were reviewed to gather information regarding the incidence of respiratory tract infections. Results: Sixty-three subjects with an average age of 50 years participated in the study. There were 26 women and 37 men; 10% of the subjects were African American. Poor oral status was common and significantly correlated with a lack of cooperation during oral examinations (p=0.007) and with respiratory infections (p=0.02). Respiratory infections occurred in 46% of subjects during the study with 12 subjects diagnosed with pneumonia. Samples were taken from the teeth and tongues of all subjects and potential respiratory pathogens were identified in 10% of the subjects. Every subject with a positive oral culture also had a respiratory infection.
Conclusions: These preliminary results suggest that poor oral health may be a risk factor for respiratory infections in intellectually and developmentally disabled persons. Severe and profoundly disabled persons are more likely to have poor oral status because of their lack of cooperation and resistant behavior to oral hygiene procedures. Additional research is needed develop methods of improving oral health and to further explore the role of oral respiratory pathogen colonization and respiratory infections in disabled persons.
This study was funded in full by the NIDCR with grant R21DE016477.