일부 만 30세 이상 성인에서 구강건조증 관련요인 분석

The aim of this study was to analyze factors related to xerostomia in adults aged 30 years and over. The data were analyzed using the t-test, one-way ANOVA and multiple linear regression analysis in the SPSS version 12.0 program. The results were as follow. 1. The respondents who were older than 51 years old, unemployed and had less than 3 million won of average monthly income were more aware of xerostomia (p＜0.05). 2. The respondents who answered poor and moderate for their general and oral health and the group with duplicate medication and comorbidity were more aware of xerostomia (p＜0.05). 3. The respondents that had problems in chewing, communication, ordinary activities and complained of pain? discomfort and suffered from anxiety depression were more aware of xerostomia (p＜0.001). 4. The respondents that answered frequent dryness on their skin, eyes, lips, and nasal mucosa were more aware of xerostomia (p＜0.001). 5. Xerostomia showed highest correlation with quality of life (b=0.436) followed by the number of medications (b=0.239), sense of entire body dryness (b=0.200), feeling of hopelessness (b=0.160) and number of oral mucosa disease symptoms (b=0.099) (p＜0.05). According to the results of the study, xerostomia may cause deterioration in quality of life. Thus, it is advised to improve the patient management system among dental professions to prevent various complications caused by xerostomia and conduct regular health education on the cause and management method of xerostomia.