Oral Health and the Association with Blood Parameters in Neurogeriatric Inpatients without Relevant Systemic...

Area of Science:

• Gerontology
• Oral Health
• Internal Medicine

Background:

• Limited data exists on the oral health status of neurogeriatric inpatients.
• Neurogeriatric patients are a vulnerable population with complex health needs.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the oral health and hygiene of neurogeriatric inpatients.
• To investigate the association between oral health parameters and hematological markers of systemic health.

Main Methods:

• Cross-sectional study of 30 neurogeriatric inpatients undergoing early rehabilitation.
• Exclusion of systemic inflammation (C-reactive protein >5 mg/dL).
• Assessment of oral health status, hygiene indices, and routine laboratory parameters.

Main Results:

• Patients displayed impaired oral health, with high plaque indices and bleeding on probing, indicating poor hygiene.
• Periodontitis was prevalent, affecting 80% of the participants.
• Oral health parameters did not correlate with inflammatory, nutritional, or anemia markers, except for a moderate correlation between tooth count and total protein.

Conclusions:

• Neurogeriatric inpatients present with reduced oral health and hygiene, independent of systemic laboratory parameters.
• This population is at high risk for oral health issues, even without overt systemic infection.
• Findings underscore the need for interprofessional therapy planning to address oral health in neurogeriatric care.