Effects of Special Mouth Care with an Aroma Solution on Oral Status and Oral Cavity Microorganism Growth in Elderly Stroke Patients

Abstract

Purpose: This study was conducted to examine the effect of oral care with an aroma solution on oral status and oral cavity microorganism growth in elderly patients with stroke. Methods: A non-equivalent control group, with a pretest-posttest design was used in this study. The participants were assigned to the experimental group (n =30) that received oral care with an aroma solution or the control group (n=31) that received 0.9% saline solution. To identify the effect of the experimental treatments, objective/subjective assessments of oral status and oral cavity microorganism growth were performed using the oral assessment guide, oral perception guide, and oral swab culture. Data were analyzed using Chi-square test, Fisher's exact test, and t-test with the SPSS version 21.0 program. Results: The objective oral status was significantly lower in the experimental group than in the control group (t = -3.64, p<.001). There was no significant difference between the subjective oral status of the experimental group and control groups (t= -1.24, p=.109). Oral microorganism growth was significantly lower in the experimental group than in the control group (t = -7.39, p<.001). Conclusion: These findings indicate that special mouth care using an aroma solution could be an effective oral health nursing intervention for elderly patients with stroke.