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Prevalence of xerostomia in an adolescent inpatient psychiatric clinic: a preliminary study
Author(s) -
Kaur Manvir,
Himadi Elaine,
Chi Donald L.
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
special care in dentistry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.328
H-Index - 41
eISSN - 1754-4505
pISSN - 0275-1879
DOI - 10.1111/scd.12154
Subject(s) - medicine , psychiatry , pediatrics
Objective Adolescents with psychiatric conditions may be at risk for xerostomia. In this preliminary study, we estimated xerostomia prevalence in adolescents ages 9 to 17 years from an inpatient psychiatric clinic (N = 25) and examined whether: (1) gender and age were associated with xerostomia and (2) xerostomia was associated with self‐reported cavities. Methods We used a modified 11‐item Xerostomia Index to identify xerostomia (no/yes) and asked if adolescents ever had or currently have cavities (no/yes). Results The mean age was 14 years (SD = 2.3) and 72% were male. Sixty percent reported xerostomia (SD = 50). There were no significant associations between xerostomia and gender ( p = 0.99) or age ( p = 0.66), or between xerostomia and past ( p = 0.26) or current cavities ( p = 0.11). Larger proportions of adolescents with xerostomia reported previous and current cavities. Conclusions Sixty percent of adolescents from an inpatient psychiatric clinic reported having xerostomia, which may lead to increased caries risk over time. Additional research should examine the prevalence and consequences of xerostomia in high‐risk adolescents.