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Updated: Nov 23, 2025
Oral Health Assessment by Lay Personnel for Older Adults
Published on: February 2, 2020
Functional status and oral health in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: A cross-sectional study
Alessandro de Sire1,2, Marco Invernizzi1,3, Martina Ferrillo4
1Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine, Department of Health Sciences, University of Eastern Piedmont, Novara, Italy.
Background:
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease affecting upper and lower motor neurons. The current practice of caring for patients affected by ALS involves a multidisciplinary team without any indication about oral health care.
Objective:
We sought to investigate the functional status and oral health in patients with ALS to define a specific multidisciplinary management.
Methods:
In this cross-sectional study, we included patients affected by ALS, evaluating their functional status, using the Revised ALS Functional Rating Scale (ALSFRS-R) and their oral health status through specific parameters, including Brief Oral Health Status Examination (BOHSE), Winkel Tongue Coating Index (WTCI), and Oral Food Debris Index (OFDI).
Results:
All 37 patients (mean age: 61.19±11.56 years) showed a poor oral status, independent from the functional status and strictly correlated to the severity of sialorrhea (p = 0.01). OFDI index was negatively correlated with the ALSFRS-R upper limb (p = 0.03). Patients with bulbar onset had significantly lower ability to perform adequate tongue movements in terms of protrusion (p = 0.006) and lateralization (p < 0.001). Significant negative correlations between survival rate and BOHSE (p = 0.03) was found.
Conclusions:
Taken together, our findings showed that a poor oral health status might be correlated to a worse functional status and survival time. Thus, an adequate oral health care and rehabilitation should be considered as crucial in the multidisciplinary management of patients with ALS.
