Assignment of Dental Hygienists Improves Outcomes in Japanese Rehabilitation Wards: A Retrospective Cohort Study

To clarify the effectiveness of ward-assigned dental hygienists (DHs) on rehabilitation outcomes in rehabilitation wards.

Retrospective cohort study.

The registry data from the Japanese Rehabilitation Nutrition Database.

656 patients with hip fracture or stroke admitted to convalescent rehabilitation wards.

The main outcome measures were the Functional Independence Measure (FIM), the Food Intake Level Scale (FILS), and the home discharge rate. Patients were divided into two groups based on the ward setting: with an assigned DH (DH group) and without an assigned DH (NDH group). Clinical characteristics and outcomes were compered between the groups. Between-facility differences were adjusted by generalized estimating equation. We performed post-hoc power analysis to confirm that there were enough samples included in this study to detect a significant difference.

Of 656 patients (mean age, 77 years; 57.1% female; 65.5% stroke) from 10 facilities, 454 patients (69.2%) from 4 facilities were in the DH group. FIM score at discharge (107 vs 90, P<0.001), percentage improvement in FILS score from admission to discharge (44.5% vs 22.8%, P<0.001) and home discharge rate (72.5% vs 61.4%, P<0.001) were significantly higher in the DH group than in the NDH group. After multivariate analysis, the FIM score at discharge (P=0.007), FILS score at discharge (P=0.024), and home discharge rate (P=0.007) were significantly higher in the DH group than in the NDH group.

ADL and swallowing function were significantly improved at discharge and the home discharge rate was higher among patients in rehabilitation wards with DHs. Having a ward-assigned DH may lead to better rehabilitation outcomes in rehabilitation wards.