Condições de saúde bucal de idosos institucionalizados: um estudo de coorte prospectiva

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the oral health status of institutionalized elderly over time and the associated factors. A prospective cohort study was carried out in 11 long-term institutions for the aged (LTIA) in the city of Natal (Brazilian Northeast), in the years of 2013 and 2017, resulting in a final sample of 124 elderly people. The data collection included elderly’s oral epidemiological examination, application of a questionnaire to them, medical records assessment and institutional directors interviews. Descriptive analysis was performed to characterize the sample according to the dimensions investigated, using the McNemar chi-square test or the paired t-test, followed by analysis of the oral health status trajectory over time. After this, it was evaluated the influence over time of sociodemographic, institutional, general health and dental services use on the difference in oral conditions - grouped in dimensions and labeled as inadequate situation (worsening and unfavorable stability) and adequate (favorable stability and improvement). The bivariate analysis had significance level of 5%, using chi-square or Fisher's exact tests to assess the magnitude of the effect through measures of relative risk (RR) with 95% confidence interval. As results, in 2013, the mean age of the elderly was 79.1 years (± 8.44), with an average institutionalization time of 4.9 years (± 5.37), the majority being female, race/color white, residents of non-profit institutions. Between the two observation waves, there was stability in most of the parameters evaluated, but root caries of elders was increased (from 13.56% to 35.59%, p <0.001) and decreased the occurrence of temporomandibular dysfunction - TMD (from 32.1% to 15.1%, p <0.05), number of valid sextants for periodontal evaluation (from 0,99 to 0,86, p <0.05) and present central sextants (from 44,63% to 37,60%, p <0.001). The hyposalivation / xerostomia and periodontal and rehabilitation dimensions trajectories revealed inadequate oral health situation predominance, with the exception of TMD, for wich prevailed adequate situation. The bivariate analysis showed that, throughout the cohort, the oral health variables did not suffer significant statistical influences of the sociodemographic, institutional, general health and use of dental services. It can be concluded that, although there were considerable differences in the institutionalized elderlys living conditions, oral health conditions were inadequate, stable over time and not significantly influenced by the evaluated variables.