Department of Oral Biochemistry, Academic Centre for Dentistry Amsterdam, University of Amsterdam and VU University Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Clin Oral Investig. 2023 Sep;27(9):5529-5537. doi: 10.1007/s00784-023-05172-2. Epub 2023 Jul 28.
Sjögren's disease (SjD) patients use various interventions to relief their oral dryness. However, the use and efficacy of these interventions have only partially been evaluated. The present study aims to investigate whether there is an association between the perceived oral dryness and discomfort of SjD patients and their use of specific interventions.
A cross-sectional study was performed among SjD patients, who completed several questionnaires to assess the severity of their oral dryness and an inventory of dry-mouth interventions. The perceived efficacy of each intervention was reported on a 5-point Likert-scale.
The questionnaires were returned by 92 SjD patients. For relief of oral dryness, they mostly used "eating fruit", "drinking tea", "moistening the lips", "drinking water, and "drinking small volumes" (> 50%). Three interventions had a frequency of use ranging from 2-6 times/day, whereas, "drinking water" and "drinking small volumes" showed higher frequencies (> 14). The highest overall efficacy (≥ 3.5) was reported for "chewing gum" and "using a mouth gel". Furthermore, various dry-mouth interventions showed significant associations with oral dryness scores and/or patients' discomfort. For example, "drinking small volumes" and "using XyliMelts" were associated with the Bother Index score.
Great variation was found in the use of dry-mouth interventions by the participants and the severity of the oral dryness and/or patients' discomfort seemed to affect their choice of intervention. Notably, the mostly used interventions did not show the highest reported efficacy.
These findings might help SjD patients and clinicians in their choice of effective dry-mouth interventions.
干燥综合征（SjD）患者使用各种干预措施来缓解口腔干燥。然而，这些干预措施的使用和效果仅部分得到评估。本研究旨在调查 SjD 患者的口腔干燥感和不适与他们使用特定干预措施之间是否存在关联。
对 SjD 患者进行了横断面研究，他们完成了几份问卷，以评估他们口腔干燥的严重程度和口干干预措施清单。每种干预措施的感知效果均在 5 分李克特量表上报告。
92 名 SjD 患者返回了问卷。为了缓解口腔干燥，他们主要使用“吃水果”、“喝茶”、“润唇”、“喝水”和“喝少量水”（>50%）。三种干预措施的使用频率为 2-6 次/天，而“喝水”和“喝少量水”的使用频率更高（>14 次）。报告的总体效果最高（≥3.5）的是“嚼口香糖”和“使用口腔凝胶”。此外，各种口干干预措施与口腔干燥评分和/或患者的不适之间存在显著关联。例如，“喝少量水”和“使用 XyliMelts”与困扰指数评分相关。
研究参与者对口干干预措施的使用存在很大差异，口腔干燥的严重程度和/或患者的不适似乎影响了他们对干预措施的选择。值得注意的是，最常使用的干预措施并未显示出最高的报告效果。
这些发现可能有助于 SjD 患者和临床医生选择有效的口干干预措施。
