Rheumatology 2002; 41: 381-389
© 2002 British Society for Rheumatology
Original Papers |
The wafer test: a semi-quantitative test to screen for xerostomia
Department of Immunology and Rheumatology, Instituto Nacional de Ciencias Médicas y Nutrición Salvador Zubirán, 14000 México, D.F. Mexico
Objective. To develop a screening test for xerostomia.
Methods. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 152 healthy subjects aged <20–60 yr, 30 patients with primary Sjögren's syndrome and 60 patients with other connective tissue diseases, sampled randomly. A validated screening questionnaire for sicca syndrome and the Schirmer-1 and wafer tests were carried out in all subjects. In addition, non-stimulated whole salivary flow was measured in a random sample of 113 participants. The main outcome was the time of dissolution of the wafer.
Results. Time of dissolution of the wafer was 2.8±2.1 min in the healthy group, 3.3±1.5 min in the connective tissue diseases group, and 9.2±3.9 min in the primary Sjögren's syndrome group (P<0.001). The correlation coefficient between the wafer test and non-stimulated whole salivary flow was -0.60 [95% confidence interval (CI) -0.47, -0.71]. A cut-off value of 4 min (‘wafer 4’) showed sensitivity of 92.9%, specificity of 71.7%, a positive predictive value of 31.7%, a negative predictive value of 98.6%, accuracy of 74.3%, an ROC (receiver operating curve) value of 82.3 and a likelihood ratio of 3.3 (95% CI 2.3, 4.6) for xerostomia. The proportion of patients with wafer 4 was 8% in the healthy group, 23% in the connective tissue diseases group and 93% in the primary Sjögren's syndrome group (P<0.001). Wafer 4 was a significant predictor of xerostomia after controlling for age, gender, temperature and relative humidity.
Conclusion. The wafer test is valid and reliable for identifying subjects with xerostomia.
KEY WORDS: Xerostomia, Screening, Sicca syndrome, Sjögren's syndrome.
Correspondence to: J. Sánchez-Guerrero, Department of Immunology and Rheumatology, Instituto Nacional de Ciencias Médicas y Nutrición Salvador Zubirán, Vasco de Quiroga 15, 14000 México, D.F. Mexico.
CiteULike 
Connotea 
Del.icio.us What's this?
This article has been cited by other articles:
|
|
 |
|
  A. CHEN, Y. WAI, L. LEE, S. LAKE, and S.-B. WOO Using the modified Schirmer test to measure mouth dryness: A preliminary study J Am Dent Assoc, February 1, 2005; 136(2): 164 - 170. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 J. Sanchez-Guerrero, M. R. Perez-Dosal, F. Cardenas-Velazquez, A. Perez-Reguera, E. Celis-Aguilar, A. E. Soto-Rojas, and C. Avila-Casado Prevalence of Sjogren's syndrome in ambulatory patients according to the American-European Consensus Group criteria Rheumatology, February 1, 2005; 44(2): 235 - 240. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|