Association between an inpatient oral self-care promotion programme and hospital-acquired infections: a propensity...

Oral care has been shown to reduce the incidence of hospital-acquired infections (HAIs), particularly hospital-acquired pneumonia (HAP). Most studies have evaluated oral care interventions performed by healthcare workers and their impact on HAIs, whereas the effect of promoting oral self-care by inpatients remains unclear.

This study aimed to determine whether promotion of oral self-care by inpatients affects the incidence of HAP, bacteraemia, and urinary tract infection (UTI).

For this retrospective cohort study, 13,995 inpatients admitted to Hiroshima University Hospital during an oral self-care promotion programme (OSCPP) period (July 2022-March 2023) were analysed, of whom 4893 received OSCPP with informed consent. The intervention consisted of an oral care education session, and provision of a toothbrush and mouthwash. They were compared with a control cohort admitted during the same period in the previous year (N = 14,629).

After applying exclusion criteria, the incidences of HAP, bacteraemia, and UTI were compared between the OSCPP and control groups (2,532, 2,538, and 2545 matched pairs, respectively). Multivariate logistic regression showed that OSCPP was significantly associated with lower incidence of HAP (odds ratio [OR], 0.54; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.38-0.78; P = 0.001), bacteraemia (OR, 0.34; 95% CI, 0.22-0.53; P = 0.0001), and UTI (OR, 0.66; 95% CI, 0.53-0.82; P < 0.001). Promotion of oral self-care was associated with reduced incidences of HAP, bacteraemia, and UTI in inpatients.