Factors related to dry mouth and low salivary flow rates in diabetic elderly: a systematic literature review

This study aimed to perform a systematic review of studies on factors related to xerostomia and/or hyposalivation in elderly patients with diabetes. SciELO, Science Direct, Scopus, and PubMed/Medline databases were searched for articles published from January 1992 to January 2013, concerned with factors associated with/related to xerostomia or hyposalivation in elderly patients with diabetes. Five articles were selected, including four transversal studies and one longitudinal study. Some of the studies found relationship between poor glycemic control and hyposalivation. Others found that xerostomia was more frequent in patients who worked in nondomestic environments and in women. However, there was considerable variation in the methods used by the researchers in the selected studies. We could not draw definitive conclusions based on our analysis of the selected studies. Longitudinal studies with appropriate sample sizes are needed to provide more complete information about the factors related to xerostomia and hyposalivation in elderly patients with diabetes.

本研究旨在针对老年糖尿病患者口干症（xerostomia）和/或唾液分泌减少症（hyposalivation）的相关影响因素开展系统综述。我们检索了SciELO、Science Direct、Scopus及PubMed/Medline数据库中1992年1月至2013年1月发表的、与老年糖尿病患者口干症或唾液分泌减少症相关的研究文献，最终纳入5篇文献，其中4项为横断面研究，1项为纵向研究。部分研究发现血糖控制不佳与唾液分泌减少存在关联；另有研究显示，口干症在非居家环境工作的患者及女性群体中更为常见。但纳入研究的研究者所采用的研究方法存在较大差异，基于对纳入文献的分析，本研究无法得出确定性结论。后续需开展样本量适宜的纵向研究，以全面阐明老年糖尿病患者口干症和唾液分泌减少症的相关影响因素。