CONCLUSION: To investigate neurological manifestations of COVID-19, it is essential to employ valid and reliable diagnostic criteria and standard definitions of the factors of interest. Although population-based studies are lacking, well-defined inception cohorts, including hospitalized individuals, outpatients, and community residents, can serve as valuable compromises. These cohorts should be evaluated for the presence of common comorbidities, alongside documenting the primary non-neurological manifestations of the infectious disease. Lastly, patients with COVID-19 should be followed beyond the acute phase to assess the persistence, duration, and severity of neurological symptoms, signs, or diseases.
METHODS: In this cross-sectional comparative study, a total of 120 participants having moderate to severe gingivitis/periodontitis with an age range of 40 to 65 years were divided into two groups on the basis of FBG range taken from an antecubital vein: non-diabetic (≤126, n=60) and diabetic (≥126, n=60) groups. Blood oozing during the routine periodontal examination from the periodontal pocket was recorded using a test strip of a glucose self-monitoring device (AccuSure®Simple) as GCBG. Concomitantly FCBG was collected from the fingertip. These three parameters were statistically analyzed using the Student's t-test and the one-way ANOVA test and correlated with Pearson's correlation coefficient for both groups.
RESULTS: The mean and standard deviation for the three parameters GCBG, FBG, and FCBG were 93.78±12.03, 89.98±13.22, and 93.08±15.56, respectively, for the non-diabetic group and 154.52±45.05, 159±47.00, and 162.23±50.60 subsequently for the diabetic group. Comparing glucose level parameters among the non-diabetic and diabetic groups suggests a significant difference with the p-value <0.001*(inter-group). ANOVA test was done for both groups suggesting no significant difference among these three methods of measuring blood glucose level, where the p-value found was 0.272 for the non-diabetic and 0.665 for the diabetic group (intra-group comparison). Pearson's correlation values suggested a good positive correlation for the non-diabetic group, with parameters GCBG and FBG (r=0.864), GCBG and FCBG (r=0.936), and FBG and FCBG (r=0.837). The diabetic group's Pearson's correlation suggested a highly significant positive correlation between three different methods in which GCBG and FBG (r=0.978), GCBG and FBG (r=0.977), and FBG and FCBG (r= 0.982).
CONCLUSION: Blood oozing from the periodontal pocket during routine oral hygiene examination can be utilized by dental healthcare professionals to screen pre-diabetic patients which can be used as a simple and less invasive method for DM patients.
OBJECTIVES: To review the literature on trials conducted among older adults residing in care homes within the UK and collate evidence on their methodological characteristics and outcomes.
METHODS: A systematic rapid review methodology was employed. MEDLINE, EMBASE and CENTRAL were searched in two incremental stages: stage 1 searched for oral health-related trials conducted within the UK care homes up to July 2021, whereas stage 2 sought for general health-related trials in the same setting from 2011 to 2021. The quality of included studies was assessed using Cochrane's RoB 2 and ROBINS-I tools. Findings were summarised descriptively.
RESULTS: Five oral health and 33 general health-related trials involving care home residents were included for analysis. The most common trial design was parallel group with two arms (n = 25) involving individual randomisation (n = 21). Consent was mainly obtained from residents and/or their proxies (n = 24), followed by residents only (n = 13) and care homes only (n = 1). Based on available data, the number needed to screen to recruit one participant ranged from 2 to 40 (median: 3; Q1-Q3: 2-9). Attrition rates ranged from 0% to 73% (median: 21%; Q1-Q3: 13%-32%) for follow-up periods between 1 and 52 weeks. The studies were of mixed methodological quality.
CONCLUSION: This rapid review outlines the methodological characteristics and outcomes of trials conducted among older adults in UK care homes. The findings of this review provide valuable information to assist in navigating and designing future research in this complex setting.