Department of Health and Social Management, Faculty of Social Sciences and Business Studies, University of Eastern Finland, Kuopio, Finland.
Institute of Dentistry, University of Eastern Finland, Kuopio, Finland.
Clin Exp Dent Res. 2022 Apr;8(2):589-599. doi: 10.1002/cre2.552. Epub 2022 Apr 3.
This study aimed to describe informal caregivers' perceptions of the importance of oral care and investigate the association between these perceptions and the use of oral health services during the past year.
There is limited research on informal caregivers' perceptions of oral care. These perceptions presumably influence oral self-care along with caregivers' and care recipients' use of oral health services.
Baseline data from the multidisciplinary Lifestyle, Nutrition, and Oral health in caregivers (LENTO) intervention study were analyzed. Informal caregivers (n = 125) and care recipients (n = 120) 65 years of age and living in Eastern Finland participated in the study. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews.
A majority (81%) of the informal caregivers considered oral care very important. Informal caregivers who considered oral care very important had 10 or more years of education, and considered service fees reasonable were more likely to have visited oral health services during the past year than other caregivers. No association between informal caregivers' perceptions of oral care and care recipients' use of oral health services during the past year was observed.
The study provides insight into informal caregivers' perceptions of oral care, with most informal caregivers considering oral care to be very important. Our findings support what has been reported in previous studies in that favorable perceptions of oral care are associated with oral health service visits. This association, however, did not hold true for care recipients' use of services.
本研究旨在描述非专业照顾者对口腔护理重要性的认知，并探讨这些认知与过去一年中口腔卫生服务使用之间的关系。
目前针对非专业照顾者口腔护理认知的研究有限。这些认知可能会影响到口腔自我护理，以及照顾者和被照顾者对口腔卫生服务的使用。
对多学科生活方式、营养和口腔健康护理（LENTO）干预研究的基线数据进行了分析。来自东芬兰的 125 名非专业照顾者和 120 名 65 岁及以上的被照顾者参与了这项研究。数据通过半结构化访谈收集。
大多数（81%）非专业照顾者认为口腔护理非常重要。认为口腔护理非常重要的非专业照顾者接受过 10 年以上的教育，且认为服务费用合理的人，与其他照顾者相比，更有可能在过去一年中使用过口腔卫生服务。未观察到非专业照顾者对口腔护理的认知与被照顾者过去一年中使用口腔卫生服务之间存在关联。
本研究深入了解了非专业照顾者对口腔护理的认知，大多数非专业照顾者认为口腔护理非常重要。我们的研究结果与之前的研究结果一致，即对口腔护理的有利认知与口腔卫生服务的使用相关。然而，这种关联并不适用于被照顾者对服务的使用。
