Oral healthcare issues among nurses involved in renal care: text-mining analysis of free-text descriptions

Abstract Background In this study, we investigated the challenges faced by nurses in the oral management of chronic kidney disease (CKD) using text mining. Methods Data were collected via the web from 175 Japanese nurses caring for patients with CKD. Participants noted the difficulties of oral management in free-text comments. The questionnaire included questions concerning the level of knowledge regarding the association between oral hypofunction and CKD. The data were analyzed using KH Coder for qualitative text mining. Results A total of 4515 words were acquired. Characteristic co-occurrence relationships among frequently occurring words included “patient-difficult-dialysis,” “patient-oral-cavity,” “observe-mask-wear,” “lack-knowledge,” and “lack-manpower.” In the correspondence analysis, nurses with more oral knowledge tended to list specific examples of difficulties, such as dealing with patients with oral dryness and oral management systems. Conclusions Text-mining analysis revealed the following characteristics: difficulty in observing the oral cavity in a clinical setting where dialysis is performed, patients wearing masks after the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, lack of knowledge, and lack of workforce. Nurses with a better understanding of the relationship between oral function and CKD tended to be more specific regarding perceived difficulties.