Oral health and impact on the quality of life correlated with general health in the frailty syndrome in outpatient older adults

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Maria Cecilia Ciaccio Vendola

University of São Paulo

: J Aging Geriatr Med

Abstract

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Introduction: Oral health seldom has its importance recognized in the clinical evaluation of the elderly, much more due to the lack of knowledge than to difficulties to carry it out. Purpose: correlate oral and general health in frail and non-frail older adults. Methods: observational study in 52 older adults. 35 of them are frail (GF) [FG], and 17 are non-frail (GNF) [NFG], classified through the Fried’s Self-Reported Test, addressing oral health variables, in addition to the evaluation of the impact of oral health on the quality of life by means of the Geriatric Oral Health Index (GOHAI) tool, and two ones related to systemic health. Results: there was no difference in the proportion of edentulous individuals in the two groups, but the number of preserved teeth in dentulous older adults was significantly higher in the GNF (p=0.048). No significant differences were seen between the two groups in the evaluation on the use of dental prostheses, as well as in the detection of soft tissue lesions. A percentage of 74% of the GF had a GOHAI score classified as “Poor”, with a significant difference in relation to the GNF (p=0.045). The number of systemic diseases and the number of medicines used were clearly higher in the GF (p<0.001), showing its physiopathological characteristic of multimorbidity and polypharmacy in the Frailty Syndrome. Conclusion: the results show that there is a clear correlation among the oral and general health conditions between the two groups (GF and GNF) and the Frailty Syndrome.

Biography

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