Respiratory Infections In Older Adults

Introduction
Many systemic diseases has been associated with poor oral health; among them, respiratory infections in elderly persons. With increasing age, many elderly adults suffer a decline in physical, psychological and mental abilities which may necessitate admission into full-time care (De Visschere, de Baat, Schols, Deschepper, & Vanobbergen, 2011). As frailty increases, the elderly is less able to care for themselves which may lead to a decline oral health, which, in turn, is recognised as a risk factor in respiratory infections such as influenza and aspiration pneumonia (Andersson, Furhoff, Nordenram, & Wårdh, 2007; Barnes, 2014; Didilescu, Skaug, Marica, & Didilescu, 2005). Respiratory infections such as influenza and pneumonia in the elderly is a serious issue as these are common causes of death in this population (Abe et al., 2006; Adachi, Ishihara, Abe, Okuda, & Ishikawa, 2002; Barnes, 2014). This
The themes are: decreased physical and mental capacity and dental plaque accumulation as reservoir for respiratory pathogens. In this review, oral care will be defined as any effort to reduce dental plaque accumulation in both hard tissues (natural dentition and dentures) and soft tissues (for example, the tongue, cheek or floor of the mouth). If oral health care was provided by dentists, dental hygienists or nursing staff trained in providing such care, it is referred to as professional oral health care (POHC) in this review. However, if oral health care is administered by relatives or the patients themselves, this is considered non-POHC. All four studies analysed in this limited review are all quantitative and conducted intervention to study the effects of providing oral health care and the risk of respiratory infections on institutionalised, care-dependent elderly. This literature review aims to critically analyze four selected studies on the role of providing oral care in reducing the risk of respiratory infections in the care-dependent