Oral health-related quality of life of stroke survivors on discharge from hospital after rehabilitation

Abstracts on this page have been chosen and edited by Dr Trevor Watts

Abstract

There were several differences between recent stroke survivors and a matched control group.

Main

McMillan AS, Leung KCM et al. J Oral Rehabil 2005; 32: 495–503

Stroke is a significant cause of disability, and may have effects on maintenance of oral health. In a Hong Kong hospital, 43 stroke survivors were assessed prior to discharge from rehabilitation after about 25 days, and compared with a similar group of 43 community-dwelling elderly subjects.

The control group had significantly better education than stroke survivors. In most aspects of quality of life, the groups were similar. However, significant differences between groups were that the stroke patients were less able to speak clearly, were less sensitive to food temperature and flavour, and had fewer and less satisfactorily treated teeth.

The authors comment that the impact of oral conditions on quality of life has been found to be less in Chinese than other ethnic groups in some studies.