[State of dentition and its impact on the capacity of elders to perform daily activities].
OBJECTIVE
The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of dental state on the capacity of elderly individuals to carry out their daily activities during the previous six months.


METHODS
A transversal study was conducted in the Mexican Institute of Social Security (IMSS) with insured elderly persons residing in southwestern Mexico City. Home interviews were conducted to gather sociodemographic data, data on the use of oral health services, problems in carrying out daily activities, and their relationship with the state of dentition over the past six months, utilizing the Oral Impacts on Daily Performance (OIDP) index. Later, three oral health professionals trained in determining the state of dentition according to World Health Organization (WHO) criteria performed a clinical examination on each elderly subject.


RESULTS
A total of 540 elderly individuals were studied. The prevalence of elderly persons with problems in carrying out their daily activities was 21.5%. The main problems in daily activities were eating (14.4%), speaking (8.7%), not becoming irritated (5.4%), brushing their teeth(5%), and inability to enjoy contact with people (4.4%). There is a positive OIDP correlation between number of teeth lost and the decayed, missing, filled teeth(DMFT) index (p<0.05) and a negative correlation with the number of functional and filled teeth.


CONCLUSIONS
The state of dentition in the elderly has repercussions on the capacity to carry out daily activities, with quality of life most seriously affected with regard to eating and enjoying food, as well as with respect to correct pronunciation.
Sánchez-García
Sergio
S
Unidad de Investigación Epidemiológica y en Servicios de Salud, Area de Envejecimiento, Centro Médico Nacional Siglo XXI, Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social, México, DF, México.
Juárez-Cedillo
Teresa
T
Reyes-Morales
Hortensia
H
de la Fuente-Hernández
Javier
J
Solórzano-Santos
Fortino
F
García-Peña
Carmen
C
D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000368:Aged; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003817:Dentition; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male