PW22 - ASSOCIATION BETWEEN ORAL HEALTH PROBLEMS AND MALNUTRITION AMONG OLDER ADULTS – THE HUNT STUDY
PW22
ASSOCIATION BETWEEN ORAL HEALTH PROBLEMS AND MALNUTRITION AMONG OLDER ADULTS – THE HUNT STUDY
S. H. Cetrelli1,*, Y.-Q. Sun2,3,4, W. M. Thorstensen1,5, I. Paur6,7, M. Kolberg2
1Department of Neuromedicine and Movement Science, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, 2Center for Oral Health Services and Research Mid-Norway (TkMidt), 3Department of Clinical and Molecular Medicine, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, 4Department of Pathology, Clinic of Laboratory Medicine, 5Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, St. Olavs Hospital, Trondheim University Hospital, Trondheim, 6Norwegian Advisory Unit on Disease-Related Undernutrition, 7Department of Clinical Service, Division of Cancer Medicine, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway
Rationale: Impaired oral health has been recognised as a possible risk factor for malnutrition in older adults. We aim to investigate the association between oral health problems and malnutrition in a population-based sample of older adults.
Methods: In this cross-sectional study we used data from HUNT4 70+, a sub-study in the fourth Trøndelag Health Study, conducted in 2017-2019, Central-Norway. Participants consisted of adults aged ≥70 years, both community dwellers and nursing home residents. Oral health problems were determined using the Revised Oral Assessment Guide – Jönköping (ROAG-J). Moderate and severe oral health problems were defined as having at least one ROAG-J item with score 2 (but not 3) and score 3, respectively. Malnutrition was defined as having at least one of three measures: a body mass index <22 kg/m2, self-reported involuntary weight loss (>5 kg last six months), or severely reduced food intake the last four weeks. Poisson regression with robust error variance was used to test the association adjusted for age, sex, education, marital status, cognitive function, and self-perceived health. Results are presented as prevalence ratios (PR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI).
Results: In the study sample (n=1571), 57.6% were women and the median age was 76.9 years. Malnutrition was found in 95 (14.2%) participants with no oral problems, 137 (18.9%) participants with moderate problems, and 47 (26.4%) participants with severe problems. Both those with moderate oral problems (PR 1.03, 95%CI 1.00-1.07) and severe oral problems (PR 1.09, 95%CI 1.03-1.15) had a higher prevalence of malnutrition compared to participants with no oral health problems.
Conclusion: Oral health problems were associated with malnutrition in this population-based sample of older adults. We propose that oral health should receive more attention in addressing malnutrition.
Disclosure of Interest: None declared