Search

Aim: Nurses' skills and confidence in providing oral care to patients play important roles in healthcare. Studies have proved that peer‐to‐peer learning and assessment can help improve nurses' skills and confidence. However, no study has investigated it using an objective assessment checklist. This study investigated an oral hygiene practice training program for nursing students. It focused on their oral healthcare skills, confidence, and perspectives regarding implementing an objective structured clinical examination (OSCE). Methods: A pre‐ and post‐survey of 97 nursing students from a nursing school in Japan was conducted as a peer‐to‐peer oral health education training program that included an assessment and performance checklist. Results: Confidence in performing and assessing oral care significantly improved after attending the program. Furthermore, the changes were significantly greater in the developed program than in the training program without the checklist. The mean total assessment scores (0–25) of the first, second, third, and fourth participants in the four‐student groups were 22.1, 23.4, 23.9, and 24.1, respectively. The mean scores of the second, third, and fourth participant groups were significantly higher than that of the first participant group (p <.01). Fifty‐two positive and 58 negative comments were received regarding the implementation of the program with professional assessments and the checklist. The most common positive comment mentioned that the evaluation by professionals improved oral care learning and skills. Conclusions: This study developed a program to improve nursing students' confidence and oral care delivery skill building in an OSCE‐style delivery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This study sought to investigate the current status and faculty members' perceptions of oral care education in Bachelor of Nursing curriculums in Japan. Method: Data were gathered through a questionnaire survey of 196 participants, who were faculty members in charge of oral care education in the basic, adult, gerontological, and home nursing fields, from 295 nursing schools that offered Bachelor degrees in nursing across Japan. Results: The quantitative data showed that 38.5% of the participants worked for less than 5 years as oral care educators, only 15.5% taught oral care in perioperative wards, only 62.2% used an oral care training simulator, and less than 30% believed that training in the prevention of oral diseases should be enhanced. From the descriptive responses, this study identified such problems as the inability of students to perform student‐on‐student and patient‐based oral care training owing to the risk of SARS‐CoV‐2 transmission, and the lack of teaching materials, time, and human resources, and cooperation with other nursing fields and health professionals. Conclusions: This study revealed several problems in oral care education in the Bachelor of Nursing curriculums in Japan. To tackle these challenges, this study suggests the development of an interdisciplinary course that unifies oral care education in nursing fields, in order to promote collaborative oral care education and to improve nursing students' knowledge and skills of oral care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

doi: 10.1111/j.1741-2358.2011.00459.x Relationship between subjective assessment of oral health and medical expenses in community-dwelling elderly persons Objectives: The increasing medical expenses of elderly persons in Japan's rapidly ageing society have become a major concern. It is therefore important to elucidate the factors associated with such escalation. Here, we focused on the relationship between subjective self-assessment of oral health, as an index of general health, and medical expenses (excluding dental repair) under the hypothesis that oral health contributes to general medical expenses. Several studies have shown that oral health status is correlated with general health status among elderly persons. We speculated that oral health status might show a relation with medical costs among elderly persons. However, few studies have investigated this relationship to date. Materials and Methods: Participants were 259 elderly subjects (range: 65-84 years; 120 men, 139 women) residing independently. Subjective assessment of oral health was evaluated by their responses ('Good', 'Not good' and 'Not at all good') on a survey questionnaire. The correlation between subjective assessment of oral health and medical expenditure was analysed using Spearman's rank method, the Mann-Whitney U-test and the Kruskal-Wallis test. Medical expenses were used as the dependent variable in multinomial logistic regression analysis with background and intraoral factors as independent variables. Results: A slight yet statistically significant correlation was observed between subjective assessment of oral health and outpatient treatment fees. Conclusion: The findings revealed that subjective assessment of oral health is significantly and independently related to the medical expenses of community-dwelling elderly persons after adjusting for social background, living environment and physical factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

doi: 10.1111/j.1741-2358.2011.00597.x Relationships between Geriatric Oral Health Assessment Index scores and general physical status in community-dwelling older adults Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the relationships between Geriatric Oral Health Assessment Index (GOHAI) and general physical status among community-dwelling older adults. Background: Geriatric Oral Health Assessment Index is a patient-centred assessment of oral health for older adults. We hypothesised that GOHAI is a significant indicator of general physical status of older adults. Methods: This study included 354 adults (age, ≥65 years) living independently. Body mass index, handgrip strength and one-leg standing time with eyes open were used to evaluate the general physical status. Spearman's rank correlation coefficients were calculated to examine the relationships between the GOHAI scores, its three subdivided categories (physical function, psychological function and pain and discomfort) and each physical status measurement. A stepwise linear regression model was applied with each physical status measurement as the dependent variable and the GOHAI scores and its subdivisions as the principal independent variable. Results: Positive correlations were found between the GOHAI scores, its three subdivided categories and handgrip strength. The physical function category positively correlated with one-leg standing time. The GOHAI and the pain and discomfort category scores were retained in the final models of stepwise regression for handgrip strength, and significant relationships persisted after adjustments for demographic, psychosocial, medical and dental status. Conclusion: The GOHAI scores and its pain and discomfort category score may be significant indicators of body muscle strength. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]