ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND/INTRODUCTION: For various reasons, the care demand from elderly people is low and difficult to determine, whereas their oral hygiene status would need urgent care. OBJECTIVE: To assess the oral hygiene status of institutionalized dependent elderly in Bangalore City, India. METHODS: A cross-sectional study of 322 dependent elderly patients was conducted at seven elderly homes of Bangalore City, India. The oral hygiene status recorded includes dental and prosthetic hygiene. RESULTS: The mean Debris Index and Plaque Index scores of dentate elderly were 2.87±0.22 and 3.17±0.40, respectively, the mean Denture Plaque and Denture Stomatitis scores were 3.15±0.47 and 1.43±0.68, respectively. CONCLUSION: The dental hygiene was inadequate. This study emphasizes the care demand and the need for help in oral hygiene procedures for the dependent institutionalized elderly.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Tobacco is a highly addictive substance. Tobacco usage is considered one of the main causes responsible for the death of adults worldwide, with 4.9 million deaths occurring worldwide each year. And if the current tobacco usage patterns continue, it will cause some 10 million deaths every year by 2020. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A descriptive study was carried out among 566 prisoners of central prison Bangalore, who met the inclusion criteria. Data were collected using a questionnaire and nicotine dependence was assessed using fagerstrom questionnaire. RESULTS: The study group was categorized based on the age, gender, imprisonment status and education. In this study, 87.5% subjects were smokers, and 15.9% were smokeless tobacco users. 69.1% mentioned they use more tobacco daily during incarceration than at liberty. 87.1% agreed with the fact that "prison stress" was a factor enhancing the need for tobacco usage. 69.1% mentioned as lack of freedom, 77.4% mentioned boredom as factors enhancing need for tobacco usage while imprisoned. While 69.9% mentioned stress as a factor that trigger tobacco usage at liberty. 69.6% mentioned that they had never attempted to quit tobacco. Fagerstrom scale for level of nicotine dependence smoking showed that for smoking form 62.7% were at very high dependence and for smokeless form 64.4% were at very high dependence. CONCLUSION: The findings of this study suggest many implications for policy relevance, since the findings indicate the sales of tobacco products in the prison canteens.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: The population of older people as well as the number of dependent older people is steadily increasing. Those unable to live independently at home are being cared for in a range of settings. Practical training for nurses and auxiliary care staff has frequently been recommended as a way of improving oral health care for functionally dependent elderly. AIM: To evaluate an oral health education program for the caretakers of institutionalized elderly. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study was a cluster randomized intervention trial with an elderly home as the unit of randomization. Seven out of 65 elderly homes accommodating a total of 78 caretakers and 462 elderly residents were selected in Bangalore city, India, out of which 3 elderly homes were assigned to the intervention group and 4 to the control group. Oral health knowledge of caretakers was assessed using a pre-tested proforma; later, oral health education was provided to the caretakers of the intervention group. Oral health education was given at the end of 6 months to the caretakers of the control group. Chi-square test, Fisher exact test, and paired proportion test were used for statistical analysis. RESULTS: There was significant improvement in the oral health knowledge of the caretakers from baseline in the interventional group. CONCLUSION: The results of the present study showed that there was a significant improvement in the oral health knowledge among the caretakers. Educating the caretakers for assisting or enabling residents for maintaining oral hygiene is essential.
