Assignment of Dental Hygienists Improves Outcomes in Japanese Rehabilitation Wards: A Retrospective Cohort Study

Objectives To clarify the effectiveness of ward-assigned dental hygienists (DHs) on rehabilitation outcomes in rehabilitation wards. Design Retrospective cohort study. Setting The registry data from the Japanese Rehabilitation Nutrition Database. Participants 656 patients with hip fracture or stroke admitted to convalescent rehabilitation wards. Measurements The main outcome measures were the Functional Independence Measure (FIM), the Food Intake Level Scale (FILS), and the home discharge rate. Patients were divided into two groups based on the ward setting: with an assigned DH (DH group) and without an assigned DH (NDH group). Clinical characteristics and outcomes were compered between the groups. Between-facility differences were adjusted by generalized estimating equation. We performed post-hoc power analysis to confirm that there were enough samples included in this study to detect a significant difference. Results Of 656 patients (mean age, 77 years; 57.1% female; 65.5% stroke) from 10 facilities, 454 patients (69.2%) from 4 facilities were in the DH group. FIM score at discharge (107 vs 90, P