Prevalence of Xerostomia and its Related Factors in Patients Referred to Zahedan Dental School in Iran

Xerostomia is a condition in which salivary secretion is reduced for various reasons. Some complications of the disease include tooth decay, burning mouth and atrophic mucosa.
This study was conducted to determine the prevalence of xerostomia and its related factors in patients referred to Zahedan dental school in Zahedan city, Iran.
Patients and In this descriptive-analytical study, the questionnaires were completed for 400 patients (aged 20 - 71 years) referred to Zahedan dental school in 2007. They were examined by an oral medicine specialist and the criteria of xerostomia diagnosis included fissuring lip, pale and atrophic mucosa, smooth, red and depapillated tongue, complaining sticking lips together, cervical and top of teeth cusps caries and sticking tongue blade to mucosa. The presence of three criteria for at least a week and unstimulated salivary flow rate From a total of 400 patients, 211 cases (52.8%) were female and 189 (47.2%) were male, of which 143 persons (35.8%) affected by xerostomia. The prevalence of xerostomia was higher in people older than 51 years (59.4%). Also, women (39.8%), antihistamine (90.9%) and bronchodilator (83.3%) drugs users, patients with neural (%78.3) and psychotic (77.2%) disorders, cigarette smoking (52.2%) and hookah (61.3%) users had experienced more xerostomia.
Xerostomia is more common in females and older people. According to the results of the present study, it seems that the factors such as systemic disease involvement, taking medications, age and gender may be associated with xerostomia