The association between education received and working hours of nurses with knowledge, attitude, and practice regarding the oral health of elderly in retirement homes

Elderly people living in retirement homes are at higher risk of oral and maxillofacial diseases. Evidence has shown a clear relationship between poor oral health and possibility of aspiration pneumonia and gastrointestinal bleeding in old patients.

The aim of this study was to determine the association between education received and working hours of nurses with their knowledge, attitude, and practice regarding the oral health of elderly in retirement homes.

In this analytical study conducted in 2021 in Tehran, nurses working in retirement homes were invited to complete a questionnaire including demographics, knowledge (8 questions), attitude (7 questions), practice (10 questions) and barriers (1 question). The results were analyzed with SPSS-25 using linear regression.

The mean age of the participants (n=78) was 40.28±8.9 years and 53.8% were female. Lack of cooperation among elders (56.4%) as well as lack of time (41.0%) were the most important barriers to oral health maintenance. Receiving education as a nurse/caregiver had positive relationship with the scores of knowledge, attitude, and practice. Age, frequency of regular dental visits and working time per week were significantly associated with practice.

Education received as a nurse/caregiver was an important predictor of oral health knowledge, attitude, and practice of nurses regarding elders. Due to the importance of oral health in general health of elderly, planning is needed to provide continuing education for nurses to oral health care and maintenance in older people.