The purpose of this article is to assess the effect of implementing oral care with betadine wash on the occurrence of ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) and oral health problems in mechanically ventilated patients. A quasi-experimental research design with a nonequivalent control group pretest-posttest approach was employed. The study utilized a VAP diagnostic criteria sheet and Oral Assessment Scale. A convenience sample of 90 ventilated patients admitted to intensive care units with patients assigned to either an intervention group or a control group (45 patients in each). On day 3 and day 6, the intervention group showed significantly better outcomes than the control group (P < .001). The intervention had lower VAP occurrence, though not statistically significant. Regarding mouth alterations, on day 3 and day 6, these were significantly more common in the control group (4.4% and 35.6%) compared to the intervention group (64.4% and 82.2%) (P < .001). For VAP, 6.7% of the control group developed VAP on day 3, increasing to 11.1% by day 6, compared to 0% and 4.4% in the intervention group. However, these differences were not statistically significant. Comprehensive oral care intervention with betadine wash is effective in improving oral health status and reducing the occurrence of ventilator-associated pneumonia.

Title

Critical Care Nursing Quarterly

Publisher

Wolters Kluwer Health

Publisher Country

United States of America

Indexing

Thomson Reuters

Impact Factor

0.9

Publication Type

Online only

Volume

49

Year

2026

Pages

94-104