Kamel Amany Hany Mohamed, Basuoni Ahmed, Salem Zeinab A, AbuBakr Nermeen
Lecturer, Oral Biology Department, Faculty of Dentistry, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt.
MD in Cardiology, Faculty of Medicine, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt.
Br Dent J. 2021 Feb 24:1-7. doi: 10.1038/s41415-021-2656-1.
Objectives The oral cavity is a potential reservoir for respiratory pathogens which can predispose patients to bacterial super-infection. Several trials have correlated poor oral hygiene with hyper-inflammation. Similarly, COVID-19 severity has been linked to hyper-inflammatory responses. Hence, in this study, we assumed that increased COVID-19 severity may be linked to poor oral health status. This was achieved through assessing oral health status, severity of COVID-19 symptoms, C-reactive protein (CRP) levels and duration of recovery.Methods Cross-sectional study based on a questionnaire; 308 Egyptian patients with confirmed positive polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests were included in the study after exclusion criteria. The questionnaire was designed with two sections: the first section for oral health evaluation and the second section for COVID-19 severity evaluation. Assessment of the effect of oral health on COVID-19 severity was performed using an oral health score. The effect of oral health on CRP and recovery period were evaluated as secondary endpoints. Data of CRP levels and COVID-19 PCR tests were collected via the questionnaire and confirmed by reviewing medical records.Results The correlation between oral health and COVID-19 severity showed a significant inverse correlation (p <0.001, r = -0.512). Moreover, the correlation between oral health with recovery period and CRP values also revealed a significant inverse correlation (p <0.001, -0.449 and p <0.001, -0.190, respectively), showing that poor oral health was correlated to increased values of CRP and delayed recovery period.Conclusions Our study provided some evidence that oral health could have a potential impact on the severity of COVID-19. However, the correlation is limited by the study design. A more substantial research project is required to address this relation.
目的 口腔是呼吸道病原体的潜在储存库,可使患者易发生细菌重叠感染。多项试验已将口腔卫生不良与炎症反应过度相关联。同样,新冠病毒病(COVID-19)的严重程度也与炎症反应过度有关。因此,在本研究中,我们假设COVID-19严重程度增加可能与口腔健康状况不佳有关。这是通过评估口腔健康状况、COVID-19症状的严重程度、C反应蛋白(CRP)水平和恢复持续时间来实现的。
方法 基于问卷的横断面研究;在排除标准后,308名聚合酶链反应(PCR)检测确诊为阳性的埃及患者被纳入研究。问卷设计为两个部分:第一部分用于口腔健康评估,第二部分用于COVID-19严重程度评估。使用口腔健康评分评估口腔健康对COVID-19严重程度的影响。将口腔健康对CRP和恢复期的影响作为次要终点进行评估。通过问卷收集CRP水平和COVID-19 PCR检测的数据,并通过查阅病历进行确认。
结果 口腔健康与COVID-19严重程度之间的相关性显示出显著的负相关(p<0.001,r=-0.512)。此外,口腔健康与恢复期和CRP值之间的相关性也显示出显著的负相关(分别为p<0.001,-0.449和p<0.001,-0.190),表明口腔健康状况不佳与CRP值升高和恢复期延长相关。
结论 我们的研究提供了一些证据,表明口腔健康可能对COVID-19的严重程度有潜在影响。然而,这种相关性受到研究设计的限制。需要一个更实质性的研究项目来解决这种关系。