Impact of a designed care protocol on oral health status of critically ill patients

ABSTRACT

This study included 60 adult patients aged 20-70 years; those with head or neck surgery and those receiving radiotherapy or chemotherapy were excluded from the study. The patients were sequentially randomized either to a study group [who received the oral care protocol] or a control group [who did not receive the oral care protocol], each group comprised 30 patients. The study tools comprised a socioeconomic and background data sheet, an oral assessment guide [OAG] and the designed oral care protocol [instruction guide] which includes all the instructions related to oral care technique. The results indicated that all components of OAG significantly deteriorated by the 4th day in patients of the control group. On the 4th day, the mean scores for all components of OAG of patients in the study group were significantly better than those for the control group. Patients on Ryle tube feeding had significantly higher scores for inflammation salivary flow, tongue, purulent matter, mucous membrane and the total score. There were no statistically significant differences between patients in whom supportive devices were used with those in whom supportive devices were not used