구강기능향상을 위한 프로그램시행 전·후 구강기능의 변화

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of a program geared toward improving elderly people's oral function. After a program was provided to the selected elderly people free of charge for three months, they were asked to rate their own oral function to see whether they underwent any changes after their participation in the program,and their oral function was tested to obtain objective data. The collected data were analyzed by the statistical package SPSS WIN 18.0. The findings of the study were as follows: As for changes in their self-rated indicators of oral function,they faced less troubles in most of the oral function items after they participated in the program, and there were statistically significant differences in some of the items. As a result of making an objective evaluation of their oral function, they underwent a little change in salivary flow rate from 1.19 to 1.30, though the change was not statistically significant. In terms of opening, they showed a statistically significant rise of scores from 4.22 to 4.53, and they also showed a statistically significant rise of scores in pronunciation from 30.52 to 38.88. Regarding satisfaction with the program, they gave 4.48 to the program, which implied that they were greatly satisfied with the program. The abovementioned findings suggest that oral health experts and program providers should try to encourage elderly people to keep on taking oral health programs with interest. Currently, oral exercise programs are conducted in some public health centers and in the field of clinical dentistry, and it's required to offer more oral exercise programs as community exercise programs for the elderly.