Suchergebnisse

AbstractAimTo examine how physical ability and comorbidity associate with oral health.Methods and resultsThe study population comprised 161 individuals belonging to the Oral Health GeMS study. Outcome variables were the number of teeth with dental caries and deepened periodontal pockets and self‐perceived oral health (pain/discomfort in mouth). Physical ability was determined by measuring limitations in daily activities (activities of daily living [ADL] and instrumental activities of daily life [IADL]) and the number of comorbidities with Functional Comorbidity Index (FCI). Poisson's multivariate regression model was used to estimate prevalence rate ratio (PRR) and their 95% confidence intervals (CI). The physical ability or number of comorbidities did not associate consistently with oral diseases, but ADL, IADL and FCI associated all with self‐perceived oral discomfort (PRR: 1.74, CI: 1.01‐3.03; PRR: 1.20, CI: 1.06‐1.35; PRR: 1.20, CI: 1.05‐1.36, respectively). Furthermore, IADL associated also with poor self‐perceived oral health (PRR: 1.27, CI: 1.03‐1.57).ConclusionOlder people with impaired physical ability and comorbidities are more likely to have oral discomfort and have poorer self‐perceived oral health.

ABSTRACTThe aim was to study the determinants of preventive oral health care need among community‐dwelling old people. The study population consisted of 165 participants, a subpopulation in the Geriatric Multidisciplinary Strategy for Good Care of Elderly People (GeMS) study. Fifty‐five percent of the edentate participants with full dentures and 82% of the dentate had a need for preventive oral health care. In the total study population, the need for preventive care was associated with co‐morbidity (measured by means of the Modified Functional Co‐morbidity Index) odds ratios (OR) 1.2 (confidence intervals [CI] 1.0–1.5), being pre‐frail or frail, OR 2.5 (CI 1.2–5.1), presence of natural teeth, OR 4.8 (CI 2.2–10.4), and among dentate participants, the use of a removable partial denture, OR 12.8 (CI 1.4–114.4). Primary care clinicians should be aware of the high need for preventive care and the importance of nonoral conditions as determinants of preventive oral health care need.

AbstractAimTo study whether dental caries, periodontal disease, and stomatitis, and the related inflammatory burden associate with diagnosed Alzheimer's disease (AD) and dementia among older people.MethodsThe study population included 170 individuals aged ≥75 years. The primary outcome was diagnosed AD and the secondary outcome was any types of diagnosed dementia. Information about participants' oral diseases and the related inflammatory burden was based on the clinical oral examination. Relative risks (RRs) and confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated using regression models.ResultsDental caries, the presence of ≥3 carious teeth (RR: 3.47, 95% CI: 1.09–11.1) and the number of carious teeth (RR: 1.24, CI: 1.11–1.39), and inflammatory burden (RR: 1.44, CI: 1.04–2.01) were associated with a higher likelihood of having AD. Also, periodontal disease and stomatitis were associated, although nonstatistically, with AD and dementia. The risk estimates for any type of dementia were in most cases lower than for AD.ConclusionOral diseases and the related inflammatory burden were in most cases associated more strongly with diagnosed AD than dementia in general. Of the oral diseases studied, the strongest association was between dental caries and AD.