Evaluation of the Use of a Novel Oral Health Screening Instrument by Caregivers in Nursing Homes

Summary

BACKGROUND: Oral health of nursing home residents is often poor. Oral health is related to general health, quality of life and well-being. Health care providers in nursing homes can be seen as important intermediaries to improve oral health as they are responsible for the residents' daily care and as they could regularly check resident's oral health.

The goal of this interventional study is to evaluate the use of a new oral health screening tool for older adults in nursing homes (OHS-interRAI) in an everyday context. This tool is included in the Belgian version of the International Resident Assessment Instrument for long-term care facilities and will be used by healthcare providers without a dental background. The evaluation will be done at different levels using mixed methods.

The main questions this study aims to answer at level of the residents are:

* What is the effect of regular oral health assessment on oral health of the residents?
* How do residents perceive oral health and experience the regular oral health assessments?

At level of the health care providers the main questions are:

* How do they experience the use of the OHS-interRAI for oral health assessments?
* To what extent are the assessments by health care providers comparable to assessments performed by oral health professionals?

METHODS: This research will compare the outcomes of nursing homes using the OHS-interRAI with outcomes of nursing homes using the oral health screening tool which is currently used in Belgian nursing homes. Nursing homes will be assigned randomly to the different groups. Both healthcare providers and residents assign for participation. Healthcare providers will follow a training on how to perform the screening with the OHS-interRAI and to monitor residents' oral health. Residents agree to regular oral health assessments by their healthcare providers every six months over a 2-years period.

Conditions

• Oral Health
• Old Age; Dementia
• Long-Term Care
• Nursing Homes
• Geriatric Assessment
• Mouth Diseases

Interventions

OTHER

OHS-interRAI

An oral health screening tool is being tested. Former name was the optimized oral health-related section of the interRAI (ohr-interRAI). This was further optimized into the OHS-interRAI. The OHS-interRAI comprises of 3 oral health-related items that are assessed through questioning the resident, and 6 items that require visual inspection of the mouth.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Research Foundation Flanders

  collaborator OTHER

• KU Leuven

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Joke Duyck · KU Leuven

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

OTHER

Masking

SINGLE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

65 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2022-01-03

Primary Completion

2025-02-28

Completion

2025-02-28

Countries

• Belgium

Study Locations