Evaluating the Frequency of Clinical Oral Findings of Dialysis Patients in Yazd in 2012

Chronic renal failure is regarded as one of the main serious problems of general health worldwide. In fact, it is associated with different oral manifestations. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the frequency of clinical oral findings of dialysis patients in Yazd in 2012.

This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among 95 dialysis patients who were selected via convenience sampling method from Apr 2012 to Jun 2012 in three Yazd hospitals. The required study data were collected by clinical examinations and a checklist involving the frequency of oral manifestations (dry mouth, unpleasant mouth taste, the coated tongue, history of systemic disease and previous prescription of systemic medications). The statistical analyses were performed using SPSS Software (ver 17) via descriptive statistics and the significance level was set at 5% (P-value<0.05).

The patients’ mean and age range were 59.04, 19-77 years old, respectively. There were a total of 42 females (44.2%) and 53 males (55.8 %) in the study. Dry mouth, coated tongue and unpleasant mouth taste frequency were reported to be observed in 89.6%, 56.3% and 89.6% of patients, respectively. All the patients had a history of a systemic disease and cardiovascular disease was the most common systemic diseases after the urological and nephrological disease. The cardiac and anti-hypertensive medications (91.6%) were regarded as the most common among the participants after 100% vitamin  usage.

The findings of the present study showed a high frequency of oral manifestations among dialysis patients which can affect patients’ quality of life as a secondary condition. As a result, these oral manifestations are recommended to be monitored among dialysis patients and the relevant treatments need to be applied.