Introduction: Non-ventilator hospital-acquired pneumonia (NV HAP) is a common complication for hospitalized patients. NV HAP develops when patients aspirate oral secretions containing pathogenic bacteria. Appropriate oral hygiene can help mitigate NV HAP development. Hospital staff, including nursing assistants, play an important role in ensuring that these cares are completed.
Design: A quasi-experimental pre-post design was used to evaluate outcomes before and after implementation of a structured oral hygiene education program.
Methods: A structured oral hygiene program was developed and implemented in a large quaternary hospital. Change in NA knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors before and after implementation of the oral hygiene program was evaluated. Retrospective patient outcomes before and after the intervention were analyzed to detect changes in NV HAP rates.
Results: Following the education, nursing assistant knowledge of recommended frequency of oral care for patients who are NPO increased (67.2% vs. 82.1%, p = 0.003). NAs were more likely to report oral hygiene tools including oral suctioning (80.8% vs. 90.2%, p = 0.005) and toothbrushes (89.3% vs. 95.3%, p = 0.031). The unadjusted incidence of NV HAP was significantly lower in the post-intervention cohort (0.25%) compared to the pre-intervention cohort (0.74%), p < 0.001. In the adjusted model, non-invasive positive pressure ventilation increased the odds of NV HAP by nearly sevenfold (AOR = 6.88, 95% CI: 3.99, 11.39).
Conclusion: Focused education for NAs is an effective strategy to increase knowledge related to oral hygiene. Implementing a structured oral hygiene program for NAs appears to be a promising practice to decrease NV HAP.
Download full-text PDF |
Source |
---|---|
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/jnu.13018 | DOI Listing |
Clin Rheumatol
January 2025
Department of Dentistry-Division of Oral Medicine, Oral Pathology and Radiology, and Division of Dental Hygiene, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Alberta, Room 5-357 Edmonton Clinic Health Academy, 11405 87 Avenue NW, Edmonton, AB, Canada.
Introduction: Sjögren's syndrome (SS) presents complex diagnostic challenges due to its multi-organ involvement, often leading to misdiagnosis, which can result in unnecessary treatments, elevated healthcare costs, and significant impacts on patient quality of life. Accurate diagnosis is therefore critical, utilising ACR/EULAR criteria that include both labial minor salivary gland (LMSG) biopsy and anti-SSA antibodies.
Methods: This retrospective study analysed medical records of 87 adults suspected of primary SS, who underwent both anti-SSA serology and LMSG biopsy.
Hypertens Res
January 2025
Division of Health Sciences, Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka University, Osaka, Japan.
The effects of salt reduction and adequate nutrition intake among older adults with physical frailty remain controversial. Therefore, the present study investigated whether the association between daily salt intake and blood pressure among community-dwelling older adults, including the very old people, based on their physical frailty status. This cross-sectional study used data from the SONIC study, a cohort study on older adults, collected between 2010 and 2012.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Clin Virol
January 2025
Virology department, Institut Pasteur de Dakar, 36. Avenue Pasteur Dakar, Dakar 220, Senegal.
Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is the most common cause of acute viral hepatitis, responsible for large outbreaks in resource limited countries. The virus belongs to the genus Orthohepevirus which is subdivided into eight distinct genotypes (HEV-1 to HEV-8). Human disease transmission is mostly through the faecal-oral route.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPLOS Glob Public Health
January 2025
Global Health Centre, Geneva Graduate Institute, Genève, Switzerland.
Cholera outbreaks have been rapidly increasing around the world. While long-term cholera prevention and control measures rely on improvements in water, sanitation, and hygiene, oral cholera vaccines (OCVs) are used for prevention and control in the short-to-medium term. OCVs lack the market incentives available in other more profitable disease areas.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInt Med Case Rep J
January 2025
Department of Oral Medicine, Faculty of Dentistry, Universitas Padjadjaran, Bandung, Indonesia.
Introduction: Opportunistic infections (IO) are infections of microbiota (fungi, viruses, bacteria, or parasites) that generally do not cause disease but turn into pathogens when the body's defense system is compromised. This can be triggered by various factors, one of which is due to a weakened immune system due to Diabetes Mellitus (DM), which increases the occurrence of opportunistic infections, especially in the oral cavity. Fungal (oral candidiasis) and viral (recurrent intraoral herpes) infections can occur in the oral cavity of DM patients.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEnter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!
© LitMetric 2025. All rights reserved.