Background: elderly patients who spend long periods hospitalised or those who are in a situation of institutionalisation represent a risk group in this regard, since many of them suffer a degree of dependence and need help to perform the basic personal care tasks. It is therefore important to learn more about the oral health status of this group of patients in order to make a proper assessment of the situation as well as to develop protocols for its management. The purpose of this study was to conduct a systematic review to ascertain the oral health status of elderly patients institutionalised or hospitalised for a long period of time.Methods: a systematic review of the literature published in three different databases (PubMed, Embase and Cochrane Library) was conducted, with 12 different combinations of keywords based on the following selection criteria: studies published in the last 5 years, in English and/or Spanish and/or Portuguese, with samples of ≥30 patients, performed in patients older than 65 years, admitted to any type of institution and/or care centre for at least 7 days and in which the state of hard and/or soft tissues of the oral cavity were assessed in some way. The selected articles were subjected to a thorough analysis.Results: The search strategy covered 1,014 articles: 689 from Pubmed and 325 from Cochrane Library. After applying the eligibility criteria, five articles were selected for our review. The level of evidence of the articles was3, with a sample consisting of 773 patients in which most of them were women with an average age older than 70 years old.Conclusions: the oral health of patients aged more than 65 is worse than that of the rest of the population. Long-term in hospitals or being institutionalised in a retirement home makes this group susceptible to a worsening of their oral health status. It is necessary to develop protocols for the oral health care of these patients, accompanied by training programmes for the personnel.

Background: Elderly patients who spend long periods hospitalized or those who are in a situation of institutionalization represent a risk group in this regard, as many of them suffer a degree of dependence and need help to perform the basic tasks of personal care. It is therefore important to learn more of the oral health status of this group of patients in order to make a proper assessment of the situation and to develop protocols for its management.The purpose of the study was to conduct a systematic review to ascertain the oral health status of elderly patients admitted to institutions or hospitalized for a long period of time. Methods: a systematic review of the literature published in two different databases (PubMed, Embase and Cochrane Library) was carried out, with 12 different combinations of keywords based on the following selection criteria: studies published in the last 5 years, in English and/or Spanish and/or Portuguese, with samples of ≥30 patients, performed in patients older than 65 years, admitted to any type of institution and/or hospital center for at least 7 days and in which the state of hard and/or soft tissues of the oral cavity were evaluated in some way. The selected articles were subjected to a thorough analysis. Results: The search strategy covered1 , 014 articles: 689 from Pubmed and 325 from Cochrane Library. After applying the eligibility criteria, fivearticles were selected for our review. The level of evidence of the articles was3, a sample of 773 patients most of them were women with an average age older than 70 years old. Conclusions: the oral health of patients aged more than 65 is worse than that of the rest population. Long hospital stays or being institutionalized in a residence makes this group susceptible to a worsening of their oral health status. It is necessary to develop protocols for the oral health care of these patients, accompanied by training programs for the personnel responsible. Key words: “elderly inpatients”, “elderly hospitalized patients”, “long term hospitalization”, “long term inpatients”, “oral health”, “oral status”.

Background: Elderly patients who spend long periods hospitalized or those who are in a situation of institutionalization represent a risk group in this regard, as many of them suffer a degree of dependence and need help to perform the basic tasks of personal care. It is therefore important to learn more of the oral health status of this group of patients in order to make a proper assessment of the situation and to develop protocols for its management. The purpose of the study was to conduct a systematic review to ascertain the oral health status of elderly patients admitted to institutions or hospitalized for a long period of time.Methods: a systematic review of the literature published in two different databases (PubMed, Embase and Cochrane Library) was carried out, with 12 different combinations of keywords based on the following selection criteria: studies published in the last 5 years, in English and/or Spanish and/or Portuguese, with samples of ≥30 patients, performed in patients older than 65 years, admitted to any type of institution and/or hospital center for at least 7 days and in which the state of hard and/or soft tissues of the oral cavity were evaluated in some way. The selected articles were subjected to a thorough analysis.Results: The search strategy covered 1,014 articles: 689 from Pubmed and 325 from Cochrane Library. After applying the eligibility criteria, five articles were selected for our review. The level of evidence of the articles was3, a sample of 773 patients most of them were women with an average age older than 70 years old.Conclusions: the oral health of patients aged more than 65 is worse than that of the rest population. Long hospital stays or being institutionalized in a residence makes this group susceptible to a worsening of their oral health status. It is necessary to develop protocols for the oral health care of these patients, accompanied by training programs for the personnel responsible.