Research on effectiveness of oral care on QOL of family caregivers.

作为初步研究，我们进行了以下研究。我们研究了老年人舌苔中与牙病相关的微生物分布。结果表明，舌苔可能是微生物从口腔其他部位进入或进入的宿主和接受者。对无明显残疾的老年人口腔异味强度与主观健康状况的关系进行流行病学评价。结果表明，超过阈值的挥发性硫化合物（VSC）水平不会损害人体的主观健康状况。我们评估康复医院患者口腔护理的微生物效果。结果表明，舌苔量与口腔空气中H_2S浓度结合使用比单独使用能更好地指示细菌的变化。我们采用自填问卷对家庭照护者的生活质量进行调查。结果显示，家庭照顾者的生活质量水平显著低于同龄人群。随后对20个家庭进行了为期3个月的访视口腔护理，结果如下：2.经口腔卫生员访口腔护理期后，临床指标（CPI、舌苔评分、口腔空气中CH_3SH水平）均有明显改善。参加口腔护理后，照顾者的角色情绪有显著改善。此外，社会功能和照顾者负担倾向于更好。综上所述，进行口腔护理不仅有助于改善需要护理的老年人的口腔状况，而且有助于家庭照顾者的福祉。此外，参与该项目的牙科保健师可以从其报告的文本分析中发现自己对老年人和家庭照顾者的意义。

As the preliminary ewsearch, we carried out following studies.1.We researched the distribution of microorganisms relating dental diseases in the tongue coat among elderly people. As the result, the possibility was shown that the tongue coat was both reservoir and receiver of microorganisms to/from the other site of oral cavity.2.We assessed the relationship between strength of oral malodor and subjective healthy condition in elderly people without remarkable disability epidemiologically. As the result, volatile sulfur compound (VSC) level over threshold could not impair the subjective healthy condition.3.We assessed microbiological effectiveness of oral care in the patients of rehabilitation hospital. As the results, usage of tongue coat volume in combination with H_2S concentration in mouth air could be a better indicator of bacterial change than the single use.4.We investigated the prevalence of QOL among family care givers using self-administered questionnaire. As the results, QOL levels of family caregivers were significantly lower than the common people in the similar age.Subsequently, visiting oral care was performed actually for three months with 20 families and following results were obtained.1.After the period of visiting oral care by the dental hygienist, clinical indicators (CPI, tongue coat score, CH_3SH levels in mouth air) were improved significantly.2.Role-emotion of the caregiver was significantly improved after visiting oral care. In addition, social functioning and caregiver burden tended to be better.From the results above, visiting oral care could contribute not only the improvement the oral condition of the elderly in need of nursing but also well-being of the family caregiver. Furthermore, the dental hygienist participated in this project could find significance of themselves for both elderly people and the family caregiver from the text analysis of their reports.