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ePaper created 2018-03-23, 09:55:06 | version 1.38.0
34 NEWS Dental Tribune Middle East & Africa Edition | 1/2018 Dry mouth in older adults may be drug-induced Older adults are high users of medications, with about 40 per cent of community-dwelling and 75 per cent of institutionalised adults taking fi ve or more medications (Photoraph: Shutterstock/By FuzzBones) Dentist's LifeStyle Conference & Exhibition Career Plan Life Plan DLS3 B a h r a i n 2 0 1 8 3 0 - 3 1 M a r c h #DLSBahrain Dr. Mariam Al Jalahma Prof.Paulo Kano Prof.Tarek Salah Prof. Christian Makary Dr. Sam Assassa Dr. Osama Al-Ali Dr. Farry B Jeffrey Dr. Sang Won Kwak Dr.Vinay Shivagange Dr. Omar Saleh Malkawi Dr. AbdulMajeed Kavarodi Dr. David Montalvo Dr. Nabiel ALGhazali Dr. Nausathkhan Ubayathulla Dr. Yusuf Ahmed Alzayani CDT Dan Stenkilsson Dr. Yasin Alavi Organized By Strategic Partner Supported By Online Registration NHRA CME Accepted By Media Partner Marketing Partner www.dlsbahrain.com/register Scan Me Bahrain Conferance Center Crown Plaza Hotel By DTI MELBOURNE, Australia/STOCK- HOLM, Sweden: For older adults, salivary gland hypofunction can be a common side-effect of prescribed medications. The condition can lead to dental caries, dysgeusia, oral mucosal soreness and oral candidi- asis, among others. In a systematic review and meta-analysis, research- ers have sought to learn more about the connection between medications and dry mouth in older adults. They found that medi- cation use was signifi cantly associ- ated with xerostomia and salivary gland hypofunction in older adults. So far, only few studies have in- vestigated the severity of medica- tion-induced dry mouth and the associated sequelae. Postdoctoral research fellow Dr Edwin Tan of Monash University in Australia worked closely with researchers from Karlstad University and the Academic Center for Geriatric Den- tistry, both in Sweden, to screen ti- tles and abstracts of a total of 1,544 studies investigating medication use as an exposure and xerostomia or salivary gland hypofunction as adverse drug outcomes. In the end, 52 were deemed eligible for inclu- sion in the fi nal review and 26 in the meta-analysis. In the intervention studies in- cluded, urological medications, anti-depressants and psycholeptics were signifi cantly associated with dry mouth in adults over the age of 60. In the observational studies, numbers of medications and sev- eral medication classes were signifi - cantly associated with xerostomia and salivary gland hypofunction. Medications used to treat urinary incontinence were nearly six times more likely to cause dry mouth than a placebo. The scientists recommended that future research develop a risk score for medication-induced xerosto- mia to assist with prescribing and medication management. They also suggested that health care providers should regularly moni- tor and review all medications to identify potential side-effects and to adjust doses or change medica- tions when necessary. The study, titled “Medications that cause dry mouth as an adverse effect in older people: A systematic review and metaanalysis”, was published online ahead of print on 26 October 2017 in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.