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Age and medication are significant risk factors for xerostomia in an English population, attending general dental practice
Author(s) -
Field EA,
Fear S,
Higham SM,
Ireland RS,
Rostron J,
Willetts RM,
Longman LP
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
gerodontology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.7
H-Index - 54
eISSN - 1741-2358
pISSN - 0734-0664
DOI - 10.1111/j.1741-2358.2001.00021.x
Subject(s) - medicine , logistic regression , population , risk factor , cross sectional study , dentistry , family medicine , demography , environmental health , pathology , sociology
Objective: To study the prevalence of xerostomia in an English population, attending general dental practice and relate it to age. medication and gender. Design Study: Cross‐sectional. Setting: Five General Dental Practices in Merseyside, North of England. Subjects: 1,103 adult patients attending for routine dental care. Intervention : Questionnaire administered by dentists. Main Outcome Measures: Age, gender, systemic medication, reported oral dryness. Results: 1,103 patients (654 females) were recruited, of whom 427 (39%) were aged 60 years or older, 26% of patients reported taking medication. The overall prevalence of xerostomia was 12.7% (males‐10.3%, females 14.4%). Age. medication and female gender were found to be significant risk factors for xerostomia, using logistic regression analysis. Conclusions: The prevalence of xerostomia (12.7%) in an English population was lower than reported in previous North American and Swedish studies. Medication was a significant risk factor for xerostomia and a better predictor of risk status, than either age or gender.