194 Chapter 9 The opinion of the respondents regarding the desired flavours of salivary substitutes is reported in Table 3. Highly preferred flavours were a “neutral flavour”, “no flavour”, and “menthol/spearmint flavour”, whereas the flavours “cola”, “liquorice”, and “strawberry” were the least popular. There was a significant difference between the two age groups with regard to preferences of flavours (Mann–Whitney U test p < 0.05); the younger respondents preferred “menthol/ spearmint” flavour more than the older age group. The two groups with different levels of xerostomia also showed significant differences (Mann– Whitney U test p < 0.05). The respondents with relatively low xerostomia (XI score ≤ 46) preferred the use of flavour “blueberry” more than the respondents with more severe xerostomia (XI score ≥ 47). On the other hand, respondents in the XI ≥ 47 group preferred the use of “neutral flavours” in salivary substitutes significantly more than respondents with a relatively low xerostomia. Table 4 depicts the opinion of respondents regarding potential side-effects of the use of saliva substitutes. Major objections were against saliva substitutes “causing discoloration of the teeth” and ones “having a bitter taste”. The least objections were about using saliva substitutes multiple times a day. The two age groups only differed significantly with regard to “causing discoloration of the teeth” (Mann–Whitney U test p < 0.05), whereby the younger age group (mean = 4.74 ± 0.89, median = 5.0 ± 5.0–5.0, N = 31) had more objections than the older age group (mean = 4.25 ± 1.40, median = 5.0 ± 4.0–5.0, N = 28). Finally, Table 5 presents the preferred method of administration. The respondents preferred a mouth spray followed by a mouth gel or an oral rinse. A minority of the respondents preferred a tablet. These preferences did not differ significantly for the two age groups and the two XI-groups (Mann– Whitney U test p > 0.05). Table 4: Sjögren’s syndrome patients’ opinion regarding potential side effects of saliva substitutes, using a 5-point Likert scale (1 = “Not unpleasant’’ to 5 = “Very unpleasant’’). Data are expressed as as mean score with standard deviation (SD.) and as median scores with the corresponding interquartile range (IQR). N indicates the number of participants in each group. Potential negative effects side effects Total mean ± SD. (N) Total median ± IQR Causing discoloration of the teeth 4.59 ± 1.03 (N=58) 5.0 ± 5.0-5.0 Causing discoloration of the oral mucosa 4.14 ± 1.12 (N=58) 5.0 ± 3.0-5.0 Having a bitter taste 4.47 ± 0.90 (N=58) 5.0 ± 4.0-5.0 Having an aftertaste 4.22 ± 0.94 (N=58) 4.5 ± 4.0-5.0 Using the product multiple times a day 2.45 ± 1.33 (N=58) 3.0 ± 1.0-3.0
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