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Background: People with intellectual disabilities (IDs) may be at increased risk of developing periodontal diseases and dental caries due to poor oral hygiene. Our aim was to investigate motor proficiency factors associated with presence of visible plaque and gingival bleeding in people with IDs. We were particularly interested in the level of dependence, manual coordination and fine manual control of people with ID, as well as the level of exhaustion of the primary caregiver. Methods: In this cross‐sectional study, 299 people with ID were evaluated for oral hygiene using the simplified Visible Plaque Index and for gum inflammation using the Gingival Bleeding Index. The Bruininks‐Oseretsky Motor Proficiency Test assessed motor proficiency through fine manual control (fine motor integration and fine motor precision) and manual coordination (manual dexterity and upper limb coordination). The level of dependence was assessed by the Katz dependency index, and the caregiver was tested for exhaustion using the fatigue severity scale. Prevalence ratios [and 95% confidence intervals (CI)] were calculated using crude and adjusted Poisson regression with robust variance. Results: The exhaustion of the caregiver was associated positively to visible plaque [prevalence ratio (PR) = 1.36; 95% CI 1.06–1.65]. For gingival bleeding, people with IDs that had better fine motor integration (PR = 0.49; 95% CI 0.33–0.75) and precision (PR = 0.50; 95% CI 0.26–0.94), as well as manual dexterity (PR = 0.62, 95% CI 0.49–0.77), presented better results. Conclusion: Poor oral hygiene and gum inflammation were associated with motor proficiency of people with IDs and caregivers' exhaustion. Interventions to improve the oral health of people with IDs should take into account such conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: In Romania there is a wide legislation framework referring to the persons with disabilities. The access to social services rises however equity questions due to a wide variation of the disabilities' dimensions even between persons with the same type and degree of disability. Aim: Our study aimed to assess the dependence of people with disabilities from a county of Bucharest and their real needs of social services. Methods: We used a new tool for assessment of dependence and need for social services in persons with disabilities from a county of Bucharest. The tool was based on five domains of activity and nine categories of social services. An overall disability score (ODS) was calculated and, based on it, we analyzed the need for social services. Results and discussion: We investigated 607 persons with disabilities, from which 20.4%, 62.8% and 16.8% were young, middle aged and elderly respectively. Among them, 28% didn't have any education and half didn't have any income source. Most of the cases had marked or severe disabilities, especially mental, psychic or physical. The overall disability score reached to 76.3/ 75.5 (mean/median) showing many variations within the same degrees and types of disability. The support services were recommended most often, followed very closely by rehabilitation services, services for adaptation of the environment and basic services and the palliative services were most rarely recommended. Conclusion: The proposed technique could serve as framework to assess the need for social services in persons with disabilities, starting from the level of dependence and it might be useful in decreasing variability in social services provision. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]