Effect of Tooth-brushing on Oral Health and Ventilator-Associated Pneumonia of Critically III Patients

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of tooth-brushing oral care on oral health and ventilator-associated pneumonia of patients in Intensive Care Unit (ICU). Methods: A total of 74 participants were recruited from a medical, surgical, or neurosurgical ICU at S Hospital in Seoul, Korea, from September of 2010 to January of 2011. An experimental group (n= 36) received oral care with tooth-brushing while a control group (n=38) received oral care with cotton ball and gauze. In both group, the oral care was done three times a day at least one minute for 7 days. Oral health was examined by the Modified Oral Assessment Guide before the intervention and each night. Results: There is no difference between the groups in aspect of passage of time (p = .603), interaction between time and intervention (p =.300), the performance intervention (p = .766), and the incidence of VAP (p = .486). Conclusion: The effect of oral care with tooth-brushing on oral health and VAP was not different from that of usual oral care in ICU. However, further study is necessary due to high attrition in this study.ope