Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Allschwil, Switzerland; University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
Private Office Zahngesundheit am Tegernsee, Germany.
Swiss Dent J. 2024 Feb 26;134(2):53-71. doi: 10.61872/sdj-2024-02-04.
Oral healthcare among the frail is an underestimated geriatric care element. While neglected oral health (OH) is a well-established risk factor for frailty, frailty can be a risk factor for subsequent OH problems. The cross-sectional investigation nested into the SAPALDIA sub-cohort of citizens aged 52 years and older, aims to stimulate longitudinal research into aspects that accelerate poor OH among frail individuals. The hypothesis investigated was that (pre-) frail individuals are more likely to have missing teeth replaced with removable dental prostheses (RDP) resulting in difficulties with chewing. The study included 1489 participants undergoing geriatric assessments and oral examination. The main predictor was frailty status (non-frail; pre-frail; frail), based on Fried's frailty phenotype. The main outcomes of interest were non-functional dentition (presence of ≤ 19 natural teeth), presence of any RDP and self-reported difficulties with chewing. Pre-frailty and frailty were not associated with the presence of ≤ 19 natural teeth, but were associated with a higher RDP prevalence. The presence of at least one complete denture (CD) had 1.71 fold and 2.54 folds higher odds among pre-frail and frail, respectively, compared to non-frail individuals. Frail individuals with CD reported chewing difficulties 7.8 times more often than non-frail individuals without CD. The results are in line with the hypothesis that (pre-) frail individuals may be more likely to have tooth loss restored by RDPs. Future longitudinal research needs to assess potential barriers to oral hygiene and fixed dental prostheses among (pre-) frail and to study their oral health-related quality of life.
口腔健康保健在体弱人群中被低估了。尽管被忽视的口腔健康（OH）是体弱的一个既定风险因素，但体弱也可能是随后 OH 问题的一个风险因素。这项横断面研究嵌套在 SAPALDIA 亚队列中，该队列由年龄在 52 岁及以上的公民组成，旨在刺激对加速体弱个体 OH 不良的方面进行纵向研究。研究的假设是，（预）体弱个体更有可能用可摘义齿（RDP）来修复缺失的牙齿，从而导致咀嚼困难。该研究纳入了 1489 名接受老年评估和口腔检查的参与者。主要预测因素是衰弱状态（非衰弱；衰弱前期；衰弱），基于 Fried 的衰弱表型。主要关注的结果是非功能性牙列（存在≤19 颗天然牙）、任何 RDP 的存在和自我报告的咀嚼困难。衰弱前期和衰弱与存在≤19 颗天然牙无关，但与 RDP 患病率较高有关。与非衰弱个体相比，至少有一副全口义齿（CD）的衰弱前期和衰弱个体的 CD 存在的几率分别高出 1.71 倍和 2.54 倍。有 CD 的衰弱个体报告咀嚼困难的可能性是非衰弱无 CD 个体的 7.8 倍。结果与假设一致，即（预）体弱个体可能更有可能通过 RDP 来修复牙齿缺失。未来的纵向研究需要评估（预）体弱个体在口腔卫生和固定义齿方面的潜在障碍，并研究他们的口腔健康相关生活质量。
