Oral Health and Undernutrition in the Frail Elderly Persons

Overview & Synopsis

Introduction Although many studies associate a poor state of oral health with the risk of undernutrition in both the autonomous and dependent elderly, very few of them consider the frail elderly person. However, the identification of the frail elderly is one of major issues of modern geriatrics. It is at this stage that preventive strategies are the most effective against the risks of dependency. The main objective of our study is to explore the nature of the association between oral health and undernutrition in the frail elderly patient, and to identify the associated factors. Materials and methods We have used the data of an observational transversal monocentric study, conducted among a population of patients hospitalized for frailty assessment at the Geriatric Frailty Clinic (G.F.C.) for Assessment of Frailty and Prevention of Disability. The enrolment site is the Cité de la Santé, at Toulouse University Hospital. Data were collected from January 25, 2016 February 2, 2018. The data collected sociodemographic characteristics, oral health (Oral Health Assessment Tool), nutritional status (Mini Nutritional Assessment), Body Mass Index, and weight loss according to Fried), frailty (Fried criteria), functional status (Mini Mental State Examination, Activity of Daily Living, Instrumental Activity of Daily Living, Geriatric Depression Scale-15), and behavior (tobacco and alcohol). Results We included 1,155 subjects with an average age of 81.9 years, including 65% women. Bivariate analysis indicated a statistically significant association (p