Clinical Outcomes and Oral Health-Related Quality of Life after Periodontal Treatment with Community Health Worker Strategy in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes: A Randomized Controlled Study

• Main Authors: Yuan-Jung Hsu, Yi-Hui Chen, Kun-Der Lin, Mei-Yueh Lee, Yu-Li Lee, Chih-Kai Yu, Yuji Kabasawa, Hsiao-Ling Huang
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2021-08-01
• Series: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
• Subjects: community health workers; type 2 diabetes mellitus; periodontal disease; quality of life
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/16/8371
• ISSN: 1661-7827; 1660-4601

Interventions engaging community health workers (CHW) for diabetes management aim to improve diabetes care and self-management behaviors among patients. We evaluated the effects of nonsurgical periodontal treatment (NSPT) with the CHW strategy on oral self-care behaviors, periodontal status and oral health-related quality of life (OHQoL) in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). The participants were randomly assigned to experimental (EG; <i>n</i> = 35) and control (CG; <i>n</i> = 33) groups. All participants received NSPT, whereas the patients in the EG also received one-on-one 30 min lessons from a CHW over 4 weeks. The EG exhibited greater improvement in the probing pocket depth (β = −0.2, effect size [ES] = 0.61) and clinical attachment level (β = −0.2, ES = 0.59) at 1-month follow-up than the CG did. The ES increased over the 1-, 3- and 6-month follow-ups, indicating an increase in OHQoL (ES = 0.19, 0.60, and 0.62, respectively) in the EG. The patients in the EG were more likely to change their oral self-care behaviors than patients in the CG were. The NSPT with CHW strategy had a positive effect on 1-month periodontal treatment outcomes, long-term OHQoL and oral self-care behaviors in patients with T2DM.