Diagnosis of Salivary Gland Function Using Oral Schirmer Test / 대한이비인후과학회지

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The accurate measure of salivary flow rate requires a variety of clinical and experimental protocols. Several methods have traditionally been used to collect and measure the whole mouth saliva. The objective of this study was to verify usefulness of a newly developed oral Schirmer test for detecting salivary gland hypofunction. SUBJECTS AND METHOD: The control group consisted of 85 healthy patients, while another group consisted of 30 patients with salivary grand resection or post-head and neck irradiation and a third group of 30 patients who suffered from subjective xerostomia caused by other pathologies. Oral Schirmer test was carried out in all subjects. The main outcome was the wetted length after 5 minutes. RESULTS: The mean saliva flow was 59.3+/-16.99 mm/5 min in the control group, 47.0+/-13.50 mm/5 min in the 2nd group and 39.9+/-11.65 mm/ 5 min in the third group. The differences between the control group and the other two groups were statistically different (p<0.001). A cut-off value 40 mm/5 min showed sensitivity of 83.7% and specificity of 62.5%. CONCLUSION: The oral Schirmer test is valid and reliable for identifying subjects with xerostomia.