Comprehension of Japanese oral care-related terms among caregivers and nurses, as assessed using a newly developed instrument.

Objectives: (i) To assess comprehension of oral care-related terms among caregivers and nurses working at long-term care facilities, using a newly developed test; (ii) to analyse the effect of participant characteristics on their comprehension.

Background: Effective mutual communication between dental professionals and caregivers/nurses is essential for providing information on daily oral care for institutionalised elders.

Methods: A 36-item word-knowledge test in Japanese was developed to assess comprehension of oral care-related terms. The test was administered to a convenience sample of 236 nursing staff (198 caregivers and 38 nurses) at six long-term care facilities in Niigata City, Japan, and its reliability and validity were verified. Associations of participant characteristics with their responses were investigated by multiple regression analysis.

Results: Mean percentage of correct responses (accuracy rate) for nursing staff was approximately 62% (highest for oral care products and lowest for prosthodontic terms). Test internal reliability was high (Cronbach's alpha >0.8). Concurrent validity (test ability to distinguish between characteristically different groups) was confirmed. Mean accuracy rate was significantly higher among nurses (78.5 ± 19.3%) than among caregivers (58.7 ± 22.8%), and among respondents with interest in oral care (64.2 ± 21.1%) than among those with no such interest (51.5 ± 28.9%).

Conclusion: The word-knowledge test was valid and reliable for nursing staff of six long-term care facilities in Niigata City. Their comprehension was low for perioral and intraoral structures, related symptom and disease names, and prosthodontics terms related to oral care. Understanding of oral care-related terms among the nursing staff was related to their occupation and interest in oral care.