Lasting effect of an oral hygiene care program for patients with stroke during in-hospital rehabilitation: a randomized single-center clinical trial

Abstract

Purpose: Because the oral hygiene is poorly prioritized in the immediate post-stroke period, we implemented an oral hygiene care program (OHCP) for stroke in-patients and evaluated its persistence after discharge.

Method: In all, 62 patients with stroke who were admitted to the rehabilitation ward were randomly assigned to two groups: 33 patients to the intervention group and 29 to the control group. The OHCP, including tooth brushing education and professional tooth cleaning, was administered to the intervention group twice a week six times during in-hospital rehabilitation. Oral health status was examined both at baseline and three months after discharge from the hospital. Oral hygiene status was examined at three- to four-day intervals five times during the hospitalization period.

Results: After OHCP, oral hygiene status including the plaque index, calculus index, and O’Leary plaque index improved significantly in the intervention group, compared to the control group (p < 0.05). In the intervention group, after administration of the OHCP for the fourth time, the O’Leary index improved significantly, and remained high when checked three months after discharge (p < 0.001).

Conclusions: An OHCP conducted during in-hospital rehabilitation was effective in improving oral health and plaque control performance among patients with stroke, with effects still seen three months after discharge from the hospital.

Implications for Rehabilitation

• Initial oral hygiene status and plaque control performance were poor in stroke patients who were in rehabilitation center.

• An oral hygiene care program during in-hospital rehabilitation was effective in improving oral hygiene status and plaque control performance among stroke patients at three months after discharge.

• Repeated tooth brushing education and professional tooth cleaning were necessary to improve plaque control performance of stroke patients.

Keywords:

• Oral hygiene care program
• stroke
• rehabilitation

Disclosure statement

The authors declare that they do not have a conflict of interest.

Funding

This research was supported by the Yeungnam University research grants in 2015.