Department of Dentistry and Oral Surgery, Hyogo College of Medicine, 1-1 Mukogawa-cho, Nishinomiya, Hyogo, 663-8501, Japan.
Division of Comprehensive Prosthodontics, Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, Niigata University, 5274, Gakkocho-dori 2-bancho, Chuo-ku, Niigata, 951-8514, Japan.
BMC Oral Health. 2019 Jan 22;19(1):23. doi: 10.1186/s12903-019-0714-8.
Oral functions are known to decline with aging. However, there is limited evidence that supports the relationship between oral health and frailty. This study aimed to clarify the relationship between oral hygiene conditions, measured by remaining teeth and mucosa, and frailty among elderly people dwelling in a Japanese rural community.
We surveyed self-reliant elderly individuals aged ≥65 years who were dwelling in the Sasayama-Tamba area of Hyogo, Japan. Frailty was evaluated according to the total score of the Kihon Checklist (KCL). Based on the KCL score, elderly participants were divided into three groups: robust, pre-frail, and frail. The items measured to evaluate oral environment included the number of remaining teeth, denture usage condition, oral hygiene status, dry mouth condition, and salivary bacterial count. For statistical analysis, Fisher's exact test, one-way analysis of variance, and multiple comparison technique were used.
Of 308 elderly participants, 203 (65.9%), 85 (27.6%), and 20 (6.5%) belonged to the robust, pre-frail, and frail groups, respectively. The proportion of participants who were judged to have poor hygiene was significantly higher in the frail group than in the other two groups. The bacterial count was significantly smaller in the frail group than in the robust group, and the frail group had fewer number of remaining teeth than the other two groups, suggesting that the number of remaining teeth may be associated with bacterial count.
In elderly adults, physical frailty may affect the oral hygiene status and condition of the remaining teeth.
已知口腔功能随年龄增长而下降。然而，支持口腔健康与虚弱之间关系的证据有限。本研究旨在阐明日本农村社区居住的老年人的口腔卫生状况（通过剩余牙齿和口腔黏膜来衡量）与虚弱之间的关系。
我们调查了居住在日本兵库县佐用町地区的自理老年人，年龄均≥65 岁。根据《基本健康检查表》（KCL）的总分评估虚弱程度。根据 KCL 评分，将老年参与者分为三组：健壮、虚弱前期和虚弱。评估口腔环境的项目包括剩余牙齿数量、义齿使用情况、口腔卫生状况、口干状况和唾液细菌计数。采用 Fisher 确切检验、单因素方差分析和多重比较技术进行统计分析。
在 308 名老年人中，203 名（65.9%）、85 名（27.6%）和 20 名（6.5%）分别属于健壮、虚弱前期和虚弱组。在虚弱组中，被判断为卫生状况不佳的参与者比例明显高于其他两组。虚弱组的细菌计数明显小于健壮组，且该组的剩余牙齿数量也少于其他两组，这表明剩余牙齿数量可能与细菌计数有关。
在老年人中，身体虚弱可能会影响口腔卫生状况和剩余牙齿的状况。
