Association between dental prosthesis need, nutritional status and quality of life of elderly subjects

• Published in: Quality of life research Vol. 24; no. 12; pp. 2863 - 2871
• Main Authors: Pillai, Rajath Sasidharan, Mathur, Vijay Prakash, Jain, Veena, Shah, Naseem, Kalra, Sandeep, Kumar, Pravesh, Dey, A. B.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cham Springer 01.12.2015; Springer International Publishing; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Age; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; CLINICAL AND POLICY APPLICATIONS; Consent; Dental care; Dental insurance; Dental Prosthesis; Dentists; Family income; Female; Gender; Geriatric Assessment; Geriatrics; Humans; India; Industrialized nations; Male; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Needs Assessment; Nutrition; Nutritional status; Nutritional Status - physiology; Older people; Oral Health; Oral hygiene; Prostheses; Public Health; Quality of Life; Quality of Life Research; Questionnaires; Rehabilitation; Social Class; Socioeconomic factors; Socioeconomic status; Sociology; Teeth; India; Dental prosthesis; Elderly; Nutritional status; Oral health
• ISSN: 0962-9343; 1573-2649; 1573-2649
• DOI: 10.1007/s11136-015-1030-7

Purpose To determine the effect of prosthesis need on nutritional status and oral health-related quality of life (OHrQoL) in elderly and to check the disparity between prosthesis need and prosthesis want in the Indian elderly. Methods A total of 946 geriatric participants reporting to a geriatric medicine clinic were recruited in the study. Mininutritional assessment (MNA), geriatric oral health assessment (GOHAI) indices, prosthesis need according to WHO criteria, and prosthesis want was recorded along with age, gender, socioeconomic status and posterior occluding pair. Results Significant associations exist between prosthesis need and age (p = 0.005), MNA (p = 0.006) and GOHAI (p = 0.000). Prosthesis demand too was influenced by age (p = 0.004), posterior occluding pairs (p = 0.000), MNA (p = 0.012) and GOHAI (p = 0.000). GOHAI was negatively correlated with upper (r = -0.445) and lower prosthesis need (r = -0.460). Participants with some prosthesis need had significantly lower MNA and GOHAI scores as compared to those with no prosthesis need. Though prosthesis need was high (79.7 %), demand was low (39.3 %). Conclusion Prosthesis need affects nutritional status and OHrQoL in elderly, and a wide gap exists between need and want of prosthesis.