Association between oral health status and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in Korean adults

Abstract

This study aimed to elucidate the association between oral health status and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in Korean adults (≥ 40years old) using a representative national dataset from the 6th Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (6th KNHANES, 2013-2015). Participants aged ≥ 40years from the 6th KNHANES who had received an oral and pulmonary function tests (N=7719) were included in this study. The participant characteristics according to COPD were compared using t-test and chi-squared test. Logistic regression analysis was used to estimate the association between oral health status and COPD. Participants with poor periodontal status exhibited a higher prevalence of COPD. Moreover, patients with COPD had a greater number of missing teeth than those without COPD. The logistic regression model adjusted for demographic, socioeconomic, health- and oral health-related factors showed that the periodontal status was not significantly associated with COPD, while participants with more missing teeth had a significantly increased possibility of having COPD. This study revealed that loss of teeth in adults aged ≥ 40years was associated with COPD.