IADR Abstract Archives
Quantitative Oral Health Assessments in Mechanically Ventilated Patients: a Scoping Review
Objectives: This review aimed to determine, the quantitative oral assessment tools used to measure oral health in mechanically ventilated patients, who carried out these assessments, and what is known about oral health at the time of mechanical ventilation(MV).
Methods: A systematic search of the literature was performed using electronic bibliographic databases; MEDLINE/PubMed, Embase, CINAHL and the Cochrane library from Jan 2005 to March 2021. Studies were included if patients were >18 years old, had a quantitative oral assessment within 48 hours of MV, and were published after 2005. Only randomised controlled trials, observational, and case control studies were included.
Results: Initial searches identified 3234 studies, 508 of which were duplicates. A further 2673 were removed following review of titles, abstracts, and full papers. In total, 12 papers were included in the review.
From the studies reviewed, the aspects of oral health assessed can be broadly categorised into 5 groups: Plaque, teeth, periodontium, mucous membranes, and saliva. Assessment tools used varied between studies, with studies either assessing, and scoring, individual aspects of oral health, or multiple aspects in combination. Assessments were carried out by various healthcare professionals including dentists, hygienists, and medical nurses. Results from oral health assessments highlighted an overall lack of information regarding the baseline oral health of MV patients.
Conclusions: This review highlights a currently limited understanding of patients’ oral health at the time of MV. Assessment methods are varied and often provide little detail of the oral health of individual patients. Reporting differences make it difficult to compare findings between studies and, as such, to gain an overall understanding of oral health in MV patients. Development of a core outcome set may aid future research by ensuring consistent use of assessment tools, set time points for data collection, and reporting of outcomes in a standardised manner.
Methods: A systematic search of the literature was performed using electronic bibliographic databases; MEDLINE/PubMed, Embase, CINAHL and the Cochrane library from Jan 2005 to March 2021. Studies were included if patients were >18 years old, had a quantitative oral assessment within 48 hours of MV, and were published after 2005. Only randomised controlled trials, observational, and case control studies were included.
Results: Initial searches identified 3234 studies, 508 of which were duplicates. A further 2673 were removed following review of titles, abstracts, and full papers. In total, 12 papers were included in the review.
From the studies reviewed, the aspects of oral health assessed can be broadly categorised into 5 groups: Plaque, teeth, periodontium, mucous membranes, and saliva. Assessment tools used varied between studies, with studies either assessing, and scoring, individual aspects of oral health, or multiple aspects in combination. Assessments were carried out by various healthcare professionals including dentists, hygienists, and medical nurses. Results from oral health assessments highlighted an overall lack of information regarding the baseline oral health of MV patients.
Conclusions: This review highlights a currently limited understanding of patients’ oral health at the time of MV. Assessment methods are varied and often provide little detail of the oral health of individual patients. Reporting differences make it difficult to compare findings between studies and, as such, to gain an overall understanding of oral health in MV patients. Development of a core outcome set may aid future research by ensuring consistent use of assessment tools, set time points for data collection, and reporting of outcomes in a standardised manner.