Self-reported oral complaints in older mentally ill patients.

AIM: The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of self-reported oral complaints in older hospitalized mentally ill patients and relate them to the primary psychiatric diagnosis.
METHODS: A total of 89 older hospitalized psychiatric patients consented to participate in the study, and were interviewed and clinically examined. The medical data were obtained from the hospital's medical records.
RESULTS: The mean age of the patients was 73 years (range 59-94 years). A total of 54% suffered from psychotic disorders, 26% from dementia and 20% from mood disorders. The most common oral complaint was xerostomia (45%), followed by dysgeusia (28%), oral malodor (26%), pain when chewing (25%), burning mouth (23%), chewing difficulties (12%) and sialorrhoea (2%). The prevalence of burning mouth, dysgeusia and oral malodor differed significantly among psychiatric diagnoses and was increased in patients with mood disorders. A close association was recorded between burning mouth, dysgeusia, xerostomia and oral malodor complaints. Stepwise logistic regression showed that the use of antidepressants and burning mouth complaints were significantly associated with mood disorders.
CONCLUSIONS: An increased prevalence of oral complaints was recorded in the elderly psychiatric patients with mood disorders. Those patients should be systematically evaluated and managed for oral complaints, and particularly for burning mouth. The close association between burning mouth complaints and mood disorders requires further investigation to clarify the potential diagnostic value of the symptom for mood disorders.