An instrument to assess the oral health status of nursing home residents.

This article presents data from the development and testing of an instrument to evaluate the oral health of nursing home residents by nursing personnel (RNs, LVNs, and CNAs). After the instrument was developed, nursing staff were taught to do a brief oral health status examination (BOHSE). Using the instrument, a dentist examined 100 residents; the examination was repeated on the same residents by each category of nurse examiners. Correlation coefficients indicate that statistically significant interrater reliability between the three categories of nursing personnel and the dentist was established, suggesting that nursing staff can be taught to evaluate the oral health of residents. Replication of the study in multiple sites is recommended.