Oral hygiene practices and status of stroke patients attending an outpatient clinic in a Nigerian tertiary hospital.

Background: There may be an impairment of oral self-care post-stroke which may compromise oral hygiene and health. However, there is paucity of information on oral hygiene and oral health status of stroke patients in Nigeria. Objective: To assess the oral hygiene and health status of stroke outpatients. Method: A cross-sectional study of stroke patients attending the neurology outpatient clinic of a tertiary hospital in North Central Nigeria was conducted. Data on sociodemographic variables and oral health behaviour was obtained. Each patient was examined to determine the oral hygiene status using the Simplified Oral Hygiene index, DMFT index for the status of caries, Modified gingival index for the presence or absence of gingival disease and Modified Rankin score for functional impairment Results: There were 120 participants with a mean age of 60.30±13.21 years. Poor oral hygiene status was found in 29.7% while 28.8% had good oral hygiene status. The mean DMFT was 1.37±2.672. Dental caries was seen in 48/120 (40%) while 28 (23.3%) had gingival diseases. A modified Rankin score of 3-5 was independently associated with poor oral hygiene status (OR 1.367; 95% CI 1.020-1.832; p=0.036). Conclusion: Poor oral hygiene status is common in patients with stroke and the risk of this is higher in those with poor functional status. Oral health status should be considered in the holistic rehabilitation of stroke patients.