13 December 2022

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A survey of oral assessment, healthcare education at nursing schools in Japan

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A new study revealed problems associated with oral assessment and health care education in Japanese nursing schools. The study, published Nov. 5 in the International Dental Journal, said nursing students need more support from oral health professionals. 

The researchers said that additional studies should be conducted to reveal problems in oral assessment and health care education in other nursing schools that do not offer a bachelor's degree program in Japan and other countries.

According to the study, participants included academic staff in charge of oral health education in the basic, adult, gerontological and home nursing fields of 295 schools in Japan that offered a bachelor's degree in nursing. 

Researchers sent a questionnaire to 1,180 heads of nursing fields in the schools. The aim was to collect data on the performance of oral assessment and health care education and human resources allocated.

Results

A total of 311 (26%) questionnaires were returned, 196 (63%) of which were completed by oral health care educators. Regarding the performance of oral assessment education, the majority (71%) of the educators spent less than two hours teaching, and only 24.5% taught the usage of oral assessment tools. 

More than 90% spent less than two hours in lecture-based and practical oral health care education, respectively. Less than half taught the association of periodontal diseases with diabetes and cardiovascular diseases and use of fluoride for caries prevention in the lectures, and only approximately 30% taught the usage of an interspace brush or dental floss. Moreover, less than 10% of oral health professionals taught oral health care in lectures or practical oral health care.

Conclusions

The research team said findings revealed several problems, including low percentages of educators teaching nursing students about the use of oral assessment tools, the importance of preventing dental diseases, the use of interspace cleaning tools and the importance of having oral health professionals as educators of oral healthcare.

Satoru Haresaku et al. “A Survey of Oral Assessment and Healthcare Education at Nursing Schools in Japan.” International Dental Journal. Published online 5 November 2022. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.identj.2022.09.006