Department of Medicine DIMED, University of Padova, Padova, Italy.
Dental Private Practice, Padova, Italy.
PLoS One. 2021 Sep 20;16(9):e0255741. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0255741. eCollection 2021.
Oral health is closely related to both physical and psychological well-being, as it enables individuals to eat, speak, and socialize. The number of teeth is the most used indicator of oral health. Several reports document a relationship of dental status with a variety of indicators of general health but longitudinal studies employing standardized physical performance tests are infrequent in the scientific literature.
The Italian elderly participating in the Pro.V.A. longitudinal Study (3099 subjects aged 65+ at baseline, 2196 at the 5-year follow-up 1 and 1641 at the 7-year follow- up 2) underwent detailed interview and extensive clinical and instrumental examination that included validated physical performance measures. Participants were classified into 4 groups according to the number of remaining teeth: 0, 1-7, 8-19, and 20+. To explore the association of the number of remaining teeth with physical function and disability, we performed logistic regression analyses with models progressively adjusted for a wide number of covariates, namely anthropometric (gender, age, BMI), comorbidity (cardio-vascular, osteoarticular, and neurological diseases including depression), muscle strength (assessed for upper and lower limbs), lifestyle (smoking status, alcohol use, leisure time activities) and socioeconomical status (education, income, marital status, loneliness).
Dental status correlated with most comorbidities, lifestyle, and socio-economic variables at the univariate analysis at baseline and at follow-ups. A good dental status was significantly associated with better physical functioning and lower disability. The presence of 20+ teeth resulted significantly protective (reference group: 0 teeth) versus mobility-related disability (OR = 0.67), disability (OR = 0.54) and inability to perform heavy duties (OR = 0.62), at follow up 1 and low physical performance score (OR = 0.59) at follow up 2. Conversely, the detrimental effect of edentulism, explored in subjects with or without dentures, was present but not as straightforward. Conclusion. The assessment of a geriatric patient should include an oral evaluation as a good dental status is a crucial component of successful aging.
口腔健康与身心健康密切相关，因为它使个体能够进食、说话和社交。牙齿数量是口腔健康最常用的指标。有几份报告记录了牙齿状况与各种一般健康指标之间的关系，但在科学文献中，使用标准化身体机能测试的纵向研究并不常见。
参加 Pro.V.A.纵向研究的意大利老年人（3099 名基线时年龄在 65 岁以上的受试者，2196 名在 5 年随访 1 时，1641 名在 7 年随访 2 时）接受了详细的访谈和广泛的临床和仪器检查，其中包括经过验证的身体机能测量。参与者根据剩余牙齿数量分为 4 组：0、1-7、8-19 和 20+。为了探讨剩余牙齿数量与身体机能和残疾之间的关系，我们使用逻辑回归分析，模型逐步调整了广泛的协变量，即人体测量学（性别、年龄、BMI）、共病（心血管、骨关节炎和神经系统疾病，包括抑郁症）、肌肉力量（上肢和下肢评估）、生活方式（吸烟状况、饮酒、休闲活动）和社会经济地位（教育、收入、婚姻状况、孤独感）。
在基线和随访时，牙齿状况与大多数共病、生活方式和社会经济变量在单变量分析中相关。良好的牙齿状况与更好的身体机能和更低的残疾程度显著相关。保留 20+颗牙齿与移动相关的残疾（参照组：0 颗牙齿）、残疾（OR=0.54）和无法完成重体力劳动（OR=0.62）显著相关，在随访 1 时，以及在随访 2 时，低身体机能评分（OR=0.59）显著相关。相反，在有无义齿的受试者中，探索无牙状态的不利影响虽然存在，但并不明显。结论。对老年患者的评估应包括口腔评估，因为良好的牙齿状况是成功老龄化的关键组成部分。
