Frailty and oral health: Findings from the Concord Health and Ageing in Men Project

Abstract

Objective To examine whether frailty in older men is associated with poorer oral health and lower levels of dental service utilisation. Background Poor oral health has been associated with some frailty components. Less is known about the link between frailty and oral health outcomes. Methods A cross‐sectional analysis. Data were collected from 601 older men with both frailty status and oral health information. Frailty was defined as meeting three or more of the Cardiovascular Health Study criteria: weight loss, weakness, exhaustion, slowness and low activity. Dental service utilisation (DSU) behaviour was collected from self‐response questionnaires and face‐to‐face interviews. Oral status (number of remaining and functional teeth, periodontal disease, active coronal decayed surface [ACDS] and self‐rated oral health [SROH]) was recorded by two oral health therapists. The association between frailty and oral health behaviour and risk markers was modelled using logistic regression. Results Nineteen per cent of the participants were identified as frail. There were significant associations between frailty and dentition status (odds ratio [OR]: 2.49, 95% confidence interval [CI]: (1.17‐5.30), and frailty and ACDS (OR: 3.01, CI: 1.50‐6.08) but only ACDS remained significant after adjusting for confounders (adjusted OR: 2.46, CI: 1.17‐5.18). There was no association between frailty and DSU and frailty and SROH. Conclusion Frailty was independently associated with the presence of dental caries. However, DSU, SROH and other oral health markers were not significantly associated with frailty after adjusting for confounders. The prevalence of periodontal disease was high regardless of their frailty status.