Compliance with Xylitol and Sorbitol Chewing Gum Regimens in Clinical Trials

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to investigate compliance of long-term xylitol and sorbitol chewing gum regimens in adult women participating in a double-blind randomized controlled clinical trial. DESIGN: The participants included 122 mothers (age range: 16-35 years) residing in the city of Bauru, São Paulo, Brazil. Compliance with the xylitol and sorbitol chewing gum regimens was assessed by weighing, with a precision balance, all used gums returned in zip-lock bags during the study period of 33 months. The total number of returned bags in both chewing gum groups was computed and the differences between groups were determined by one-way ANOVA. Compliance was further categorized into excellent, good, fair or poor based on the distribution of the combined data for both groups by quartiles. These distributions for the xylitol and sorbitol groups were subjected to chi-square analysis. RESULTS: Compliance was always superior for the xylitol group in all categories. These distributions were, however, not significantly different in statistical terms. Average compliance in the xylitol chewing gum group was significantly higher when compared to the sorbitol chewing gum group (p=0.0481). CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that compliance, and possibly acceptance in this population, was superior for xylitol chewing gum than for sorbitol chewing gum.