2017 Volume 67 Issue 2 Pages 64-69
Hyposalivation is a common oral problem among dialysis patients. This cross-sectional study aimed to investigate the association between hyposalivation and the health-related quality of life (HRQOL) using the MOS Short-Form 36-Item Health Survey (SF-36). Three-hundred and forty-seven patients who received hemodialysis treatment between May 2008 and July 2008 at a specialized hospital were enrolled in the study. Among them, 212 patients who agreed to participate and had complete data sets were entered into the analyses. Those with both a resting salivary flow rate ≤0.1 mL/min and a stimulated salivary flow rate ≤1.0 mL/min were defined as showing hyposalivation. The association of hyposalivation with 8 health domains and 3 summary scores of SF-36 was evaluated using general linear models. The models included adjustments for the age, sex, underlying cause of dialysis, duration of dialysis, comorbidities, body mass index, smoking status, and alcohol use. One-hundred and three patients (48.6% [103/212]) were defined as showing hyposalivation. Hyposalivation was significantly correlated with SF-36 health domains of: physical functioning, role physical, general health, and social functioning; and the summary score: physical component summary (p<0.05). The reported findings suggest an independent relationship between hyposalivation and a poor HRQOL among dialysis patients.
