PCN32 THE ROLE OF ORAL CARE IN THE PALLIATIVE CARE

Abstract

The oral problems including dry mouth, stomatitis and candidiasis are one of the important problems which should be resolved in the palliative care. The purpose of this study was to investigate oral problems in this stage and improvement of dry mouth by oral care. Mouth care is an essential aspect of palliative care in all settings and should be considered part of daily routine patient care. Assessment and intervention should be instigated early to optimize patient comfort and prevent more serious problems and treatment complications. The study is a retrospective, quantitative analysis. Through a purposive sampling we analyzed records of tumor- and terminal stage patients who were involved in the service of the Pécs-Baranya County Hospice Foundation and met enroll criteria in 2018. The study subjects were consecutive terminally ill cancer patients admitted over the past half years. The following 3 items were retrospectively investigated. The incidences of these oral problems, the severity of dry mouth and complication with other oral problems and how can improvement of dry mouth use standard oral care by nursing staff. Descriptive (absolute- and relative frequency, variance, mean, modus, and mathematical statistics (correlation, chi-square test, variance-analysis (ANOVA), T-test) were done on the sample (p<0,05) using MS Excel and SPSS 22.0. The incidences of dry mouth, stomatitis, and candidiasis were significantly higher in the last hours. (p< 0.001). Severe cases of candidiasis were noted in 20.0% and dry mouth has benne reporter in 64.8% of people with advanced cancer and taste sensation diminishes in 25–50% of people living with cancer. Accurate diagnosis of oral problems and corresponding appropriate interventions are important for improving quality of end-of-life care.