Oral Disease and 3-Year Incidence of Frailty in Mexican Older Adults.
BACKGROUND
Poor oral health has been associated with some components of frailty. The objective of this study was to identify the association between clinical measures of oral health and the incidence of frailty among community-dwelling older adults aged 70 or older in Mexico City.


METHODS
A 3-year cohort study with a probabilistic representative sample of home-dwelling elders of one district of Mexico City was performed. Baseline and follow-up interview and oral clinical evaluations were carried out by standardized examiners in participants' homes. Dependent variable was incident frailty defined according to the frailty phenotype. Independent variables were the utilization of dental services, the presence of xerostomia, the number of natural teeth, use of removable dental prostheses, presence of severe periodontitis, and presence of root remnants. Sociodemographic, behavioral, and health measures were included as confounders. The association between oral health conditions and incident frailty was modeled using Poisson regression models with robust variance estimators. The models were adjusted for confounders and interactions.


RESULTS
We identified a 14.8% cumulative incidence of frailty. Each additional tooth was associated with a lower probability of developing frailty by 5.0% (risk ratio = 0.90; 95% CI 1.02-1.10). The 3-year risk ratio of developing frailty was 2.13 times higher (95% CI 1.01-4.50) among participants having severe periodontitis.


CONCLUSIONS
The number of teeth and the presence of severe periodontitis are associated with the development of frailty after controlling for confounders. Further studies are needed on this topic.
National Institute of Geriatrics, National Institutes of Health, Mexico.|Department of Geriatric Clinical and Epidemiological Research, National Institute of Geriatrics, National institutes of Health, Mexico.
Roberto Carlos
RC
Castrejón-Pérez
Department of Ocular Epidemiology, Ophthalmic Institute "Conde de Valenciana,"Mexico.
Aida
A
Jiménez-Corona
Unit of Dental Public Health, King's College London Dental Institute, UK.
Eduardo
E
Bernabé
Department of Research Methodology, School of Medicine, National Autonomous University of Mexico, México.
Antonio R
AR
Villa-Romero
Department of Epidemiology, Public Health and Development, Inserm U 897, Université de Bordeaux II, France.
Elise
E
Arrivé
Department of Epidemiology, Public Health and Development, Inserm U 897, Université de Bordeaux II, France.
Jean-François
JF
Dartigues
General Direction, National Institute of Geriatrics, National Institutes of Health, Mexico.
Luis Miguel
LM
Gutiérrez-Robledo
Department of Dental Public Health, Graduate and Research Division, Dental School, National Autonomous University of Mexico, Mexico.
S Aída
SA
Borges-Yáñez
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D016330:Frail Elderly / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D015577:Geriatric Assessment / Q000379:methods; D054624:Health Status Disparities; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D008800:Mexico / Q000453:epidemiology; D009059:Mouth Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*; D009909:Oral Health / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012307:Risk Factors; D013223:Statistics as Topic
Cohort; Frailty; Incidence; Oral health; Periodontitis; Tooth loss