Ensuring bedridden hospital patients have their teeth brushed properly could prevent a significant portion of non-ventilator hospital-acquired pneumonia, or NVHAP, cases, Kaiser Health News reported July 11.
A majority of the hundreds of thousands of pneumonia cases that occur in U.S. healthcare facilities each year are NVHAP, and 30 percent of those infected die, experts told KHN. Unlike many hospital-acquired infections, the federal government does not require hospitals to report NVHAP cases. Consequently, most hospitals don't prioritize tracking its occurrence or prevention efforts.
Teeth brushing is often skipped over for hospital staff to prioritize other tasks. Many employees don't realize the consequences of not keeping up with teeth brushing for bedridden patients, experts told KHN.
"I'll tell you that today the vast majority of the tens of thousands of nurses in hospitals have no idea that pneumonia comes from germs in the mouth," Dian Baker, PhD, MSN, a nursing professor at Sacramento (Calif.) State who has spent more than a decade studying NVHAP, told the news outlet.
Bacteria that builds up on unbrushed teeth can aspirate into the lungs — a common cause of NVHAP. The risk is higher for patients who are immobile for long periods of time.
Last year, Dr. Baker — along with researchers from the CDC, The Joint Commission and the Veterans Health Administration — published a research paper aiming to bring NVHAP prevention to the front and center of national healthcare conversations.
"We are not asking for some big, $300,000 piece of equipment," Dr. Baker told KHN. "The two things that show the best evidence of preventing this harm are things that should be happening in standard care anyway ― brushing teeth and getting patients mobilized."
Numerous studies have shown reprioritizing oral care and mobilization significantly reduces NVHAP rates. At Salem (Va.) VA Medical Center, an oral care pilot program called the HAPPEN initiative cut rates by 92 percent. The model has since been implemented across the Veterans Health Administration.