Oral health among older adults in nursing homes: a survey in a national quality register, the senior alert

Aim: To investigate the extent to which the Revised Oral Assessment Guide–Jönköping (ROAG-J) is used by nursing staff routinely in nursing homes in Swedenand to describe oral health status of the residents.

Design: An observational, retrospective register-based study.

Methods: Data from different validated health assessments instruments, includingROAG-J, for the period 2011–2016 were obtained from the Web-based nationalquality register Senior Alert. The basis for the analyses was 190,016 assessments.

Results: About half of all residents had underwent at least one annual ROAG-J assessment (2014–2016). During the period 2011–2016, 42% of the residents (n = 92,827) were registered to have oral health problems. Significantly more oral health problemswere found for men and for those with younger age, poorer physical condition, neurophysiological problems, underweight, impaired mobility and many medications. Inconclusion, poorer oral health was found for more care-dependent individuals, whichshows a need of preventive actions.