RELATIONSHIP OF MEDICAL STATUS, MEDICATIONS, AND SALIVARY FLOW-RATES IN ADULTS OF DIFFERENT AGES

Multiple systemic disorders and medications have been reported to caus e xerostomia or salivary gland hypofunction. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the relationship among systemic disorders, medication s, and salivary flow rates. Sixty-three ambulatory dental patients age d 23 to 82 years were randomly selected. The nature, duration, and num ber of systemic disorders and medications were documented. Repeated me asurements of unstimulated whole, chewing-stimulated whole, acid-stimu lated parotid, and candy-stimulated parotid salivary flow rates were o btained. Data were analyzed with the Wilcoxon rank-sum test, nonparame tric multivariate analysis of variance, and Fisher's exact test. For p ersons with systemic disorders who were taking medication, all salivar y flow rates were significantly (p = 0.03 - 0.001) lower than the flow rates in healthy persons. Among persons with at least one systemic di sorder who were taking medication, those who had been taking medicatio n for longer than 2 years had significantly lower unstimulated whole s aliva (p = 0.002), chewing-stimulated whole saliva (p = 0.0004), and c andy-stimulated parotid saliva (p = 0.02) flow rates than those who ha d been taking medication for 1 to 2 years. The number of systemic diso rders significantly (p = 0.02) and negatively affected the acid-stimul ated parotid salivary rates. The prevalence of salivary hypofunction d etermined on the basis of unstimulated whole saliva and acid-stimulate d parotid saliva was significantly higher (p = <0.001, p = 0.007) in t he those persons with systemic disorders and taking medications. The r esults suggest that salivary secretion is affected by the number of sy stemic disorders and duration of the potentially xerogenic medications .