Association between Oral Frailty and Nutritional Status Among Community-Dwelling Older Adults: The Takashimadaira Study

• Published in: The Journal of nutrition, health & aging health & aging, 2020-09, Vol.24 (9), p.1003-1010
• Main Authors: Iwasaki, Masanori, Motokawa, K., Watanabe, Y., Shirobe, M., Inagaki, H., Edahiro, A., Ohara, Y., Hirano, H., Shinkai, S., Awata, S.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Aging; Confidence intervals; Cross-sectional studies; Frailty; Geriatrics/Gerontology; Malnutrition; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Neurosciences; Nutrition; Nutritional status; Older people; Oral hygiene; Primary Care Medicine; Quality of Life Research
• ISSN: 1279-7707; 1760-4788
• DOI: 10.1007/s12603-020-1511-4

Objectives Recently, the concept of oral frailty, defined as accumulated deficits in oral health, has been introduced in Japan. However, data about its association with nutritional status are limited. Thus, this cross-sectional study aimed to investigate the association between oral frailty and malnutrition among community-dwelling older adults. Design Cross-sectional study. Setting Community. Participants One thousand and fifty-four individuals (428 men and 626 women, mean age: 77.0 years) from the Takashimadaira Study. Measurements Based on a multifaceted oral health assessment, oral frailty was defined as greater than or equal to three of the following components: (1) low number of remaining teeth, (2) decreased masticatory performance, (3) reduced articulatory oral motor skill, (4) low tongue pressure, and difficulties in (5) eating and (6) swallowing. The nutritional status was evaluated using the Mini Nutritional Assessment®-Short Form (MNA®-SF) and serum albumin. An ordinal logistic regression model was used to evaluate the association between oral frailty and nutritional status. Results Oral frailty was observed in 217 (20.4%) participants. After adjusting for potential confounders, the participants with oral frailty had higher odds of more severe malnutrition evaluated using MNA®-SF (adjusted odds ratio: 2.17; 95% confidence interval: 1.58–2.98) and serum albumin level (adjusted odds ratio: 1.59; 95% confidence interval: 1.10–2.31). Conclusion Oral frailty was associated with nutritional status among Japanese older adults. Maintaining comprehensive oral health and function may be effective for malnutrition prevention in community-dwelling older adults. However, further studies must be conducted to validate the generalizability of the results of the current study.