Nutritional Status in Thai Elderly with Different Types of Teeth

Methods: This cross sectional study of 613 subjects aged 55 and over was conducted in 4 study cities. Clinical examination and nutritional assessment were performed. The MNA® Mini-Nutritional Assessment was used to assess subject's nutritional status. MNA was accomplished by face-to-face interview and an anthropological measurement. The assessment was performed by trained interviewers. Subjects were categorised into four groups according to their types of teeth; natural teeth (NT), natural and replace teeth (NRT), edentulous (Eden), and complete Denture (CD). Chi-square and odds ratio were used to assess the relationship between different types of teeth and the MNA score.

Results: The average age of subjects was 69.7+6.2. The mean MNA score of Eden, CD, NRT, and NT groups were 24.31+0.23, 24.14+0.21, 24.80+0.24, and 25.54+0.19 respectively. Subjects were divided into three groups according to their MNA scores, namely malnutrition, risk to malnutrition and good nutrition. Chi-square showed the statistical significance differences between proportions of subject's nutritional status across the groups with different types of teeth. Odds ratio also showed that edentulous older people was 2.75 times more likely to be in a malnutrition or a malnutrition risk group compared to those who had natural teeth.

Conclusion: Type of teeth played an important role in nutritional status of the Thai older people.