IADR Abstract Archives
Association Between Frailty And Self-Perceived Oral Health In Older Adults
Objectives: To assess the association between self-perceived oral health (SPOH) and frailty among community-dwelling older adults in Belgium.
Methods: This is a cross-sectional study in a random sample, stratified by gender and age, of community-dwelling older adults aged 60 and over from two Belgian cities (Ghent and Mechelen). Data were collected through a participatory peer-research method with a structured questionnaire. SPOH was the outcome variable. Participants were categorised in poor SPOH if they reported at least one of the following: oral pain, chewing/speech problems, problems with oral aesthetics, problems with denture, or other oral problems. The independent variables were frailty, socio-economic position (educational level, household income), demographics (age, gender, having a partner) and dental attendance. Frailty was assessed with the Comprehensive Frailty Assessment Instrument (CFAI) including physical, psychological, social and environmental domains. Data analysis included descriptive, bivariate (Chi-Squared, ANOVA, Kruskall-Wallis) and binomial logistic regression analyses.
Results: The mean age of the sample (n=1329) was 72.5 years with 55.7% females and 63.5% having a partner. Overall, 24.3% of the sample reported poor SPOH (2.9% with oral pain, 5.8% with chewing/speech problems, 5.4% with problems with aesthetics, 12.6% with denture problems, 7.2% other oral problems). There was a significant positive association between overall frailty and SPOH. The strength of the association was robust to the adjustment for all other independent variables. Furthermore, there was a gradient in the association between frailty and SPOH, with higher odds for poor SPOH for progressively worse frailty ratings (medium frailty OR 1.7; CI[1.1-2.5] and high frailty OR 3.9; CI[2.4-6.1]). Finally, the different domains of the CFAI showed similar robust associations with SPOH.
Conclusions: Frailty is consistently associated to poor self-perceived oral health, independently from age, gender, income, educational level, having a partner and dental attendance. Further analysis are needed to explain the observed associations.
Methods: This is a cross-sectional study in a random sample, stratified by gender and age, of community-dwelling older adults aged 60 and over from two Belgian cities (Ghent and Mechelen). Data were collected through a participatory peer-research method with a structured questionnaire. SPOH was the outcome variable. Participants were categorised in poor SPOH if they reported at least one of the following: oral pain, chewing/speech problems, problems with oral aesthetics, problems with denture, or other oral problems. The independent variables were frailty, socio-economic position (educational level, household income), demographics (age, gender, having a partner) and dental attendance. Frailty was assessed with the Comprehensive Frailty Assessment Instrument (CFAI) including physical, psychological, social and environmental domains. Data analysis included descriptive, bivariate (Chi-Squared, ANOVA, Kruskall-Wallis) and binomial logistic regression analyses.
Results: The mean age of the sample (n=1329) was 72.5 years with 55.7% females and 63.5% having a partner. Overall, 24.3% of the sample reported poor SPOH (2.9% with oral pain, 5.8% with chewing/speech problems, 5.4% with problems with aesthetics, 12.6% with denture problems, 7.2% other oral problems). There was a significant positive association between overall frailty and SPOH. The strength of the association was robust to the adjustment for all other independent variables. Furthermore, there was a gradient in the association between frailty and SPOH, with higher odds for poor SPOH for progressively worse frailty ratings (medium frailty OR 1.7; CI[1.1-2.5] and high frailty OR 3.9; CI[2.4-6.1]). Finally, the different domains of the CFAI showed similar robust associations with SPOH.
Conclusions: Frailty is consistently associated to poor self-perceived oral health, independently from age, gender, income, educational level, having a partner and dental attendance. Further analysis are needed to explain the observed associations.
