Introduction: The importance of oral health care in the management of patients with systemic diseases including chronic kidney disease (CKD) has been affirmed. During the course of CKD, up to 90% of patients show oral symptoms,however, attention to oral health care has been lacking, especially in the developing countries with higher burden of renal diseases. In Cameroon, the population of CKD is on the rise and dental examination is not a routine practice in the management. There is a paucity of data on oral lesions among patients with CKD in Cameroon.
Objective: To assess clinically oral lesions in patients with chronic kidney disease stage 3-5 non-dialysed at the Yaounde university teaching hospital.
Methodology: we conducted a cross sectional study from December 2017- May 2018 in the nephrology outpatient consultation of the Yaounde university teaching hospital. Consenting patients, chronic kidney disease stage 3-5 were enrolled. Patients with acute inflammatory illnesses, complete edentulism and malignancies were excluded. Relevant sociodemographic and clinical data was obtained from patients and medical records. A subjective global assessment (SGA) questionnaire was then administered. We then examined the patients for the presence of oral lesions. The SPSS version 20 software was used for data analysis. Logistic regression model was used to identify factors associated with oral lesions. A p-value = <0.05 was considered statistical significant.The study was approved by the ethics board of the FMBS
Results: We included 80 participants with 65.0% of males 65.0 %.Their mean age was 58±12.3 years. Hypertension(73.75 %) and diabetes(41.25 %) were the most frequent comorbidities. Up to 56.25% of the population had not consulted the dentist for atleast a year, 93.75 % used tooth brush and 2.5% of the population replaced their tooth brush in <3months.The prevalence of oral lesions was 93.75%, these includes mucosal lesions 57(76%), dental lesions (42.50%) and periodontal lesions(39.74%).Halitosis (62.50 %) and xerostomia (32.50 % ) were the most frequent mucosal lesion .Enamel hypoplasia (54.84% ) and caries (19.35 %) were the most frequent dental lesions meanwhile mild periodontitis (45.16% ) was the most frequent. Advanced age, male Sex, smoking were independently associated with oral mucosal lesion, while advanced age, diabetes, smoking and brushing teeth <2times a day were independently associated with periodontal lesions. Low educational level and brushing teeth <2time a day were independently associated to dental lesions
Conclusion: The prevalence of oral lesion is high in CKD patients. Our findings suggest a need for the inclusion of dental routine dental care in the management of these patients