Effects of oral hygiene programme and home phone counselling for hepatitis C patients receiving antiviral treatment

• Published in: Journal of advanced nursing 2019-05, Vol.75 (5), p.1010-1017
• Main Authors: Wu, I‐Jung, Chang, Te‐Sheng, Hwang, Su‐Lun, Chen, Mei‐Yen
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Antiviral drugs; antiviral treatment; Clinical outcomes; Counseling; Discomfort; Discontinued; Dropping out; early prevention; Health behavior; Health risk assessment; Health status; Hepatitis; Hepatitis C; Home health care; Hygiene; infection; Infections; Liver diseases; Nursing; Oral health; Oral health care; oral health status; Oral hygiene; Patient compliance; plaque index; Quasi-experimental methods; Side effects; Symptoms; Ulcers
• ISSN: 0309-2402; 1365-2648
• DOI: 10.1111/jan.13896

Aims To explore the effectiveness of an oral hygiene programme combined with home phone counselling on hepatitis C patients during antiviral treatment. Background Hepatitis C virus infection is the leading cause of liver diseases. Evidence indicates that the antiviral treatment for hepatitis C virus infection has been successful, albeit its many side effects, such as discomfort symptoms of oral ulcers, which, in turn, leads to discontinued treatment. Inappropriate oral hygiene may worsen the side effects and increase the risk of dropping out of the treatment. Design A quasi‐experimental pre–post‐test design was used. Methods The oral hygiene programme was based on a standardized protocol of oral health care combined with home phone counselling. The participants were recruited from an outpatient clinic between August 2016 and July 2017. The generalized estimating equation was used for repeated measures of oral health behaviour, oral health status and discomfort symptoms. Findings Thirty‐four participants completed this study. The findings indicated that the oral hygiene programme significantly improved tooth brushing, use of dental floss and oral comfort. The result showed that the participants’ oral health status significantly improved in 3 months. Conclusions This pilot study supports the finding that an oral hygiene programme can reduce oral discomfort, improve oral hygiene behaviour, and enhance the oral health status of hepatitis C patients receiving treatment. This is a simple and low‐cost programme, which can be performed at home easily and boosts the completion of antiviral treatment. 目的 探讨口服卫生计划结合家庭电话咨询对丙型肝炎患者抗病毒治疗期间的效果。 背景 丙型肝炎病毒感染是引起肝病的主要原因。有证据表明,丙型肝炎病毒感染的抗病毒治疗已取得成功,尽管它有许多副作用,如口腔溃疡的不适症状,这进而导致停止治疗。不适当的口腔卫生可能会加重副作用,增加退出治疗的风险。 设计 采用准实验前后试验设计。 方法 口腔卫生方案是根据一项标准化的口腔保健方案,并结合家庭电话咨询。参与者于2016年8月至2017年7月期间从门诊招募。采用广义估计方程对口腔健康行为、口腔健康状况和不适症状进行重复测量。 研究结果 34名参与者完成了这项研究。研究结果显示,口腔卫生计划显著改善刷牙、使用牙线和口腔舒适度。结果表明,3个月后患者口腔健康状况明显改善。 结论 这项初步研究证实,口腔卫生计划可减少口腔不适,改善口腔卫生行为,并改善接受治疗的丙型肝炎患者的口腔健康状况。这是一个简单和低成本的项目,可以在家里轻松执行,并促进抗病毒治疗的完成。