Effectiveness of an oral health care education programme delivered by elderly ambassadors: a quasi-randomised controlled trial

Background. No Hong Kong–based research into the effectiveness of a geriatric oral health education programme delivered by elderly ambassadors has been published. This study was conducted to assess the effectiveness of an oral health care programme delivered by trained peer educators (elderly ambassadors) in Hong Kong at improving oral hygiene among the elderly, and to examine the improvement in knowledge and self-reported behaviour of the participants. Methods. A quasi-randomised, controlled, interventional trial was conducted. Elderly people who attended social centres and were willing to join the programme were recruited. Six elderly peer educators were trained; 23 control subjects and 51 test subjects from two social centres were recruited for data analysis. Trained peer educators were instructed to deliver oral care talks to their elderly peers using an interactive approach. The outcomes of the intervention group and control group were measured at baseline, 1 week and 1 month following the programme. Results. There were no significant differences at baseline between the groups in mean age, sex, mean dental knowledge score, self-reported oral health care behaviour, and oral hygiene level (measured by visible plaque index [VPI] and gingival bleeding index [GBI]). At 1 week following the programme, the mean VPI and GBI differed significantly between the intervention and control groups (-0.25 vs 0.02, p=0.04 and -0.22 vs 0.04, p=0.01, respectively), in favour of the intervention group. Similar results were obtained after 1 month. This was associated with brushing at the gum margin, daily use of dental floss/inter-dental brush, and daily use of antiseptic mouth rinse (McNemar’s test, p=0.000). Conclusion. An oral health care programme delivered by trained elderly peers can improve oral hygiene among elderly people. This provides a model of practice for promoting population-based oral health care to the elderly.