Assessment of oral health in elderly patients with dementia by measuring volatile sulfur compounds and its relationship with pneumonia development: A pilot study

This study aimed to clarify the involvement of anaerobes in aspiration pneumonia by measuring volatile sulfur compounds (VSCs), which are metabolites of anaerobic bacteria in the mouth.This study included 84 older adult patients (mean age, 82.5 ± 7.34 years) who had dementia and were hospitalized for more than 6 months. We measured the VSCs in the patient's mouth with Oral Chroma and obtained the data of pneumonia development in the past 6 months. We also evaluated the association or correlation of VSCs and some factors which might be the risk factors of aspiration pneumonia.The development of pneumonia had no significant association with the VSCs in the patient's mouth.The present pilot study suggests that anaerobes might not be the main causative pathogens of aspiration pneumonia in older adult patients.