Johanna de Almeida Mello1, Trung Dung Tran2, Stefanie Krausch-Hofmann3, Brigette Meehan4, Hein van Hout5, Luke Turcotte6, Henriette G van der Roest5, Vjenka Garms-Homolová7, Pálmi Jónsson8, Graziano Onder9, Harriet Finne-Soveri10, Jan De Lepeleire11, Dominique Declerck3, Emmanuel Lesaffre2, Joke Duyck3, Anja Declercq12. 1. KU Leuven LUCAS, Centre for Care Research and Consultancy, Leuven, Belgium. Electronic address: johanna.mello@kuleuven.be. 2. KU Leuven Biostatistics and Statistical Bioinformatics Centre (L-BioStat), Department of Public Health and Primary Care, Leuven, Belgium. 3. KU Leuven Population Studies in Oral Health, Department of Oral Health Sciences, Leuven, Belgium. 4. Technical Advisory Services (TAS), interRAI New Zealand, Wellington, New Zealand. 5. Department of General Practice and Elderly Care Medicine, Amsterdam Public Health research institute, Amsterdam UMC, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, the Netherlands. 6. School of Public Health and Health Systems, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Canada. 7. Department of Economics and Law, HTW, Berlin University of Applied Sciences, Berlin, Germany. 8. Faculty of Medicine, University of Iceland and Department of Geriatrics, Landspitali National University Hospital, Reykjavik, Iceland. 9. Fondazione Universitaria Policlinico A. Gemelli, IRCCS, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Rome, Italy. 10. Helsinki City, Department for Social Services and Health Care, Finland. 11. KU Leuven Academic Centre for General Practice, Department of Public Health and Primary Care, Leuven, Belgium. 12. KU Leuven LUCAS, Centre for Care Research and Consultancy, Leuven, Belgium.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: Oral health is known to be associated with general health, but longitudinal relationships between oral health and general health indicators have not yet been fully explored in international research. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: The sample consisted of 3 longitudinal databases: a sample from Belgium from the Protocol 3 project (n = 8359), a combined sample from 6 European countries (n = 2501) from the IBenC study (Belgium, Finland, Iceland, Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands), and a sample from New Zealand (n = 15,012). All clients were 65 years or older and received long-term home care services. METHODS: Bayesian models were used to analyze the associations between 3 oral health indicators (chewing difficulty, nonintact teeth, and dry mouth) and 4 aspects of general health (activities of daily living functioning, cognition, depression, and health instability). In addition, the models explored the associations between current oral health and general health status and future oral health and general health status. RESULTS: Clients who had poorer oral health had a higher risk of suffering from poor general health. Especially chewing difficulty was associated with all general health indicators in all data sets (odds ratios > 1). Dry mouth and nonintact teeth showed significant associations with almost all general health indicators. Additionally, having poor oral health (respectively general health) was predictive of poor general health (respectively oral health) at future assessments (significant cross-lagged parameters). CONCLUSIONS/IMPLICATIONS: The results point out the need of the inclusion of oral health assessment and advice from dentists or oral health practitioners into the multidisciplinary conversation. In addition, identifying older people with oral health problems is essential in order to provide treatment and monitoring. Raising awareness for oral health is important, and policy makers should foster oral health promotion and care for older adults in order to keep them in good health.
OBJECTIVE: Oral health is known to be associated with general health, but longitudinal relationships between oral health and general health indicators have not yet been fully explored in international research. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: The sample consisted of 3 longitudinal databases: a sample from Belgium from the Protocol 3 project (n = 8359), a combined sample from 6 European countries (n = 2501) from the IBenC study (Belgium, Finland, Iceland, Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands), and a sample from New Zealand (n = 15,012). All clients were 65 years or older and received long-term home care services. METHODS: Bayesian models were used to analyze the associations between 3 oral health indicators (chewing difficulty, nonintact teeth, and dry mouth) and 4 aspects of general health (activities of daily living functioning, cognition, depression, and health instability). In addition, the models explored the associations between current oral health and general health status and future oral health and general health status. RESULTS: Clients who had poorer oral health had a higher risk of suffering from poor general health. Especially chewing difficulty was associated with all general health indicators in all data sets (odds ratios > 1). Dry mouth and nonintact teeth showed significant associations with almost all general health indicators. Additionally, having poor oral health (respectively general health) was predictive of poor general health (respectively oral health) at future assessments (significant cross-lagged parameters). CONCLUSIONS/IMPLICATIONS: The results point out the need of the inclusion of oral health assessment and advice from dentists or oral health practitioners into the multidisciplinary conversation. In addition, identifying older people with oral health problems is essential in order to provide treatment and monitoring. Raising awareness for oral health is important, and policy makers should foster oral health promotion and care for older adults in order to keep them in good health.