166 Chapter 8 The backward conditional method was used to analyze these independent variables. If there was a significant association between a dry-mouth intervention and one or more independent variables, then the odds ratio and the 95% confidence interval (95% CI) were reported. Furthermore, the last step of the Omnibus test chi-square, and the Hosmer and Lemeshow (H–L) test chisquare including their degree of freedom (df) and their p-values were reported. Also, the Cox & Snell R square and the Nagelkerke R square were reported, if the association was significant. All significance levels (α) were set at 0.05. RESULTS At the yearly meeting of the patient federation, 176 questionnaires were distributed. In total, 91 questionnaires were returned, a response rate of 51.7%. Most of the respondents were female (N = 81, 89.0%), while 6 were male and 4 did not indicate their gender. The mean age of the respondents was 64 ± 10 years, with age ranging from 35 to 84 years. Almost all patients (N = 87, 95.6%) reported that they had been diagnosed with Sjögren’s syndrome by a physician, while 4 respondents did not answer this question. After excluding these four respondents, the final study sample consisted of 78 females, 6 males and 3 without any indication of their gender. Removal of these respondents did not affect the mean age. Perceived oral dryness and patients’ oral discomfort The perceived oral dryness at various intra-oral locations, as determined with the RODI questionnaire, is presented in Table 1. Perceived oral dryness in the total study sample differed significantly among the nine intra-oral regions (Friedman test p < 0.05, followed by Wilcoxon signed-rank test). The perceived intra-oral dryness was most severe for the posterior palate and the pharynx. In contrast, the floor of the mouth and the inside of the cheeks were experienced as least dry. The mean overall XI score was 42.8 ± 8.7, with a median score of 45.0 and IQR of 38.0–48.5 (N = 85). The mean BI score was 7.1 ± 2.4, with a median score of 8.0 and IQR of 6.0–9.0 (N = 87).
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