Oral health and nutritional status of semi-institutionalized persons with mental retardation in Brazil

• Published in: Research in developmental disabilities 2009-09, Vol.30 (5), p.839-846
• Main Authors: Batista, Luciana Rodrigues Vieira, Moreira, Emilia Addison Machado, Rauen, Michelle Soares, Corso, Arlete Catarina Tittoni, Fiates, Giovanna Medeiros Rataichesck
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adolescents; Adult; Adult and adolescent clinical studies; Adults; Biological and medical sciences; Brazil; Child; Child clinical studies; Child, Preschool; Children; Correlation; Cross-Sectional Studies; Dental Caries - complications; Dental Caries - epidemiology; Dental Health; Developmental disorders; Evaluation; Facial bones, jaws, teeth, parodontium: diseases, semeiology; Female; Foreign Countries; Health Conditions; Humans; Institutionalization; Institutionalized Persons; Intellectual deficiency; Intellectual Disability - complications; Male; Medical sciences; Mental Retardation; Middle Aged; Non tumoral diseases; Nutrition; Nutritional Status; Obesity; Oral Health; Oral health status; Otorhinolaryngology. Stomatology; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Tooth Diseases - complications; Tooth Diseases - epidemiology
• ISSN: 0891-4222; 1873-3379
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ridd.2008.10.004

Association between oral health status and nutritional status was investigated in 200 semi-institutionalized persons with mental retardation aged 5–53 years, 45.5% female, in the cities of Florianópolis and São José, province of Santa Catarina, Brazil. In this cross-sectional study, clinical-odontological examination revealed a high percentage of individuals (68%) with heavily compromised dentition. The index of decayed, missing and filled deciduous and permanent teeth, which increased from 2.85 ± 2.87 in children to 20.5 ± 6.86 units in adults, was used to classify the individuals’ oral health status. Anthropometric evaluation revealed the prevalence of suboptimal nutritional status in 52% of children and adolescents [22% underweight, 30% at risk of overweight or overweight], and in 60% of adults [7% underweight, 53% overweight or obese]. Significant association was found between unsatisfactory oral health status and overweight in children ( χ 2 = 4.627; p = 0.031). Findings evidenced the existence of a relationship between oral health status and nutritional status in persons with mental retardation.