Medical Specialization School of Hygiene and Preventive Medicine, University of Florence, Viale GB Morgagni 48, 50134 Florence, Italy.
Department of Health Sciences, University of Florence, Viale GB Morgagni 48, 50134 Florence, Italy.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2019 Sep 19;16(18):3492. doi: 10.3390/ijerph16183492.
The oral health state plays an important role in the concept of 'elderly frailty', since institutionalized older people are prone to suffering from bad oral conditions. The aim of this study is to assess the state of oral health in the older residents of nursing homes and to measure its potential association with the cognitive state, the degree of functional autonomy, and the malnutrition risk. Methods: We enrolled 176 subjects from 292 residents in five nursing homes in Florence. For each subject, we performed the Malnutrition Universal Screening Tool, the Pfeiffer test, the Minimum Data Set-Long Form, a dental examination, and the Geriatric Oral Health Assessment Index questionnaire. The results show that the oral condition was poor in 43.8% of cases, medium in 38.1%, and good in 18.2%. A worse oral health state was significantly associated ( < 0.05) with a worse cognitive state and with a higher dependency in daily living activities. The malnutrition score among the older people was unrelated to the oral health condition ( = 0.128). It can be concluded that the oral health condition in older institutionalized subjects is an open challenge for the public healthcare system, since the maintenance of adequate good oral health is an essential element of good physical as well as cognitive and psychological health.
口腔健康状况在“老年衰弱”概念中起着重要作用，因为机构化的老年人更容易出现口腔状况不佳的情况。本研究旨在评估养老院老年人的口腔健康状况，并衡量其与认知状态、功能自主性程度和营养风险的潜在关联。
我们从佛罗伦萨五家养老院的 292 名居民中招募了 176 名受试者。对于每个受试者，我们进行了营养不良通用筛查工具、Pfeiffer 测试、最小数据集长格式、口腔检查和老年口腔健康评估指数问卷。结果表明，43.8%的人的口腔状况较差，38.1%的人的口腔状况中等，18.2%的人的口腔状况良好。较差的口腔健康状况与较差的认知状态和更高的日常生活活动依赖性显著相关（<0.05）。老年人的营养评分与口腔健康状况无关（=0.128）。可以得出结论，老年人的口腔健康状况是公共医疗体系面临的一个严峻挑战，因为保持良好的口腔健康是良好的身体以及认知和心理健康的基本要素。
