Dental and Oral Care Model for Inpatients to Prevent the Occurrence of Hospital Acquired Pneumonia (HAP) in the Elderly in the Geriatric Room of Mukomuko Hospital Bengkulu Province

The cause of Hospital Acquired Pneumonia (HAP) is bacteria from dental plaque, colonizing with other pulmonary pathogens. This condition builds rational pathogen respiration in the oral cavity resulting in high-risk pneumonia. The risk group for HAP is over 70 years old, who have serious co-morbidities, malnutrition, decreased consciousness, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Prevention of nosocomial infections requires integrated and programmed actions to reduce the transmission of organisms. This study aims to develop a model of dental and oral health care for inpatients to prevent the occurrence of HAP in the elderly. This study was conducted in the geriatric ward of Mukomuko Hospital, Bengkulu Province, Indonesia. The product test used a quasi-experimental pretest and posttest design. The sample of this study was each 16 respondents in the intervention group receiving dental and oral care and the control group receiving treatment as per the dental health national standard Indonesia Kepmenkes No.284, 2006. The results show that dental and oral care is relevant to prevent HAP with an average value of 88.4 (feasible) (p-value 0.001, and its application is effective in increasing knowledge (p=0.000) ),attitude (0.000), increased brushing skills (p = 0.000), gargle skills (p-value 0.000), decreased debris index score (p = 0.000), decreased CPIS respondents with (p = 0.000) and sputum culture results ( p = 0.000) compared to the control group. In conclusion, dental and oral health care can increase the skills of maintaining dental oral health, reduce the debris index and CPIS (Clinical Pulmonary Infection Score) for the elderly.