Department of Dentistry, Seirei Mikatahara General Hospital, Hamamatsu, Japan.
Department of Advanced Medicine Dentistry and Dental/Oral Surgery, Japanese National Center for Geriatrics and Gerontology, Obu, Japan.
Support Care Cancer. 2016 Jan;24(1):19-22. doi: 10.1007/s00520-015-2734-5. Epub 2015 Apr 19.
Considering the high incidence of oral complications in terminally ill cancer patients, dental services are necessary for high-quality palliative care. However, to our knowledge, there have been no nationwide studies examining the need and availability of dental services in palliative care. In this study, a nationwide survey was conducted to clarify the need and availability of dental services for physicians and nurses engaged in palliative care in Japan.
A questionnaire was distributed to 436 certified palliative care units and palliative care teams registered with Hospice Palliative Care Japan. The questionnaire consisted of questions related to (1) background, (2) need of dental services, and (3) availability of dental services.
The response rate was 48.2% (n = 210). As a whole, 93% of all respondents indicated that dental services were absolutely necessary, highly necessary, or necessary. In addition, 94% of respondents thought dental treatment by dentists was often or sometimes necessary; 96% of respondents thought oral care provided by specialists was often or sometimes necessary. As a whole, 71% of the respondents reported that dental services were always available, but 28% reported that dental services were available only sometimes. In actuality, in 31% of the institutions, dental services were available 1 day/week or less, and in 39%, dental services were dispatched from outside the institution.
The results of this study revealed that Japanese palliative care units and teams have a markedly high need of dental services, but there is insufficient availability. To improve oral complications of terminally ill cancer patients, dentistry professionals should be more available in palliative care.
考虑到终末期癌症患者口腔并发症的高发率，牙科服务对于高质量的姑息治疗是必要的。然而，据我们所知，目前还没有全国性的研究来检查姑息治疗中牙科服务的需求和可及性。在这项研究中，我们进行了一项全国性调查，以阐明日本从事姑息治疗的医生和护士对牙科服务的需求和可及性。
向日本缓和医疗协会注册的 436 个姑息治疗单位和姑息治疗团队分发了一份问卷。问卷包括（1）背景、（2）牙科服务需求和（3）牙科服务可及性相关的问题。
应答率为 48.2%（n=210）。总体而言，所有应答者中有 93%表示牙科服务是绝对必要、高度必要或必要的。此外，94%的应答者认为牙医进行的牙科治疗通常或有时是必要的；96%的应答者认为专家提供的口腔护理通常或有时是必要的。总体而言，71%的应答者报告牙科服务总是可用的，但 28%的应答者报告牙科服务只是有时可用。实际上，在 31%的机构中，牙科服务每周仅提供 1 天或更少，在 39%的机构中，牙科服务是从机构外派遣的。
本研究结果表明，日本姑息治疗单位和团队对牙科服务的需求明显很高，但可用性不足。为了改善终末期癌症患者的口腔并发症，牙科专业人员应该在姑息治疗中更加可用。
