Clinical diagnosis of hyposalivation in hospitalized patients

Abstract

Objective The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of clinical criteria for the diagnosis of hyposalivation in hospitalized patients. Material and Methods A clinical study was carried out on 145 subjects (48 males; 97 females; aged 20 to 90 years). Each subject was clinically examined, in the morning and in the afternoon, along 1 day. A focused anamnesis allowed identifying symptoms of hyposalivation, like xerostomia complaints (considered as a reference symptom), chewing difficulty, dysphagia and increased frequency of liquid intake. Afterwards, dryness of the mucosa of the cheecks and floor of the mouth, as well as salivary secretion during parotid gland stimulation were assessed during oral examination. Results Results obtained with Chi-square tests showed that 71 patients (48.9%) presented xerostomia complaints, with a significant correlation with all hyposalivation symptoms (p<0.05). Furthermore, xerostomia was also significantly correlated with all data obtained during oral examination in both periods of evaluation (p<0.05). Conclusion Clinical diagnosis of hyposalivation in hospitalized patients is feasible and can provide an immediate and appropriate therapy avoiding further problems and improving their quality of life.

Xerostomia of Various Etiologies: A Review of the Literature

“…Very low unstimulated and stimulated salivary flow rates are defined as < 0.1 mL/min and < 0.7 mL/min, respectively. These values are confirmatory of xerostomia if they co-exist with symptoms specific for this condition [34]. It is important to determine both the stimulated and unstimulated volume of saliva, as salivary secretion at rest can be decreased despite a normal volume of stimulated saliva [4].…”

If Systems Approach is the Way Forward, What can the Ayurvedic Theory of <i>Tridosha</i> Teach Us?

“…The associations shown in Figure 3 have also been corroborated further: (i) using information from current scientific studies, e.g. correlation between dryness and mobility 18,21,27,28 , temperature and viscosity 35 , pH and temperature 36 , dryness and viscoelastic properties 37 ; (ii) using analogical reasoning -e.g. correlation between heaviness and stability, weight and mobility, lightness and fluidity, mobility and fluidity.…”

“…This indicates the relevance of dryness in biology. Interestingly, many of these properties such as dryness, viscosity and adhesion used in ayurveda are increasingly being studied for their physiological roles and clinical relevance [19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30] . Just as the functions associated with VPK, these parameters (V1-V7, P1-P7, K1-K7) also exist at all levels of biological organization.…”

“…Pathologic dryness at system level is referred as 'medical dryness' in conventional medicine, e.g. keratoconjunctivitis sicca, xerostomia, atrophic vaginitis and xeroderma [25][26][27][28][29] . For instance, Ozturk et al 29 have reported dryness as a causative factor for increased oral mucosal friction resulting in chronic cough.…”

Xerostomia: An Update of Causes and Treatments

“…This kind of measuring has the advantage of being easily implemented, low-cost, and could be available to most of the population at risk [32]. The diagnosis of salivary gland dysfunction is based on data derived from the symptoms reported by the patient, clinical examination leading to verification of the clinical signs and determination of stimulated salivary flow [33]. A severe decrease in salivary flow may lead to a poor health-related quality of life, as well as a risk condition for the development of oral pathologies such as periodontal disease, caries, and candidiasis [29,34,35].…”