Periodontitis and Periodontopathogens in Individuals Hospitalized in the Intensive Care Unit: A Case-Control Study

The aim of the present study was to compare periodontal conditions between intensive care unit (ICU) in-patients and non-ICU patients through clinical and microbiological periodontal parameters. This case-control study included 88 individuals hospitalized in ICU and 176 non-hospitalized controls. All individuals underwent a complete periodontal examination and microbiological sampling. The total bacterial load and counts of Porphyromonas gingivalis, Treponema denticola and Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans were evaluated using qPCR. Data were analyzed through the Chi-square, Fisher exact, and t-Student tests, and the Spearman correlation, as appropriate. The prevalence of periodontitis was 39.7% among controls and 59.0% among ICU in-patients (OR=2.18; p=0.002). ICU in-patients had a significantly higher occurrence of cardiovascular disease (p=0.002; OR=2.20) and history of periodontal disease (p=0.031; OR=1.92) than controls. Bacterial counts of A. actinomycetemcomitans, T. denticola and P. gingivalis were significantly higher in ICU in-patients with periodontitis than in controls. The correlation between periodontal parameters and microbiological findings among cases and controls showed a significant and positive correlation between: total bacteria load and % of sites with probing depth (PD) ≥ 4 mm (cases: r=0.22 and controls: r=0.13) and P. gingivalis and % sites with bleeding on probing (BOP) (cases: r=0.22 and controls: r=0.23). Thus, ICU in-patients presented a higher prevalence of periodontitis and worse periodontal condition (higher mean plaque index, BOP, clinical attachment level ≥3 mm, and sites with PD 4 to 6 mm).