Association between Physical Frailty Subdomains and Oral Frailty in Community-Dwelling Older Adults.

Ryo Komatsu,Shotaro Tsuji,Kayoko Tamaki,Kazuki Okuda,Hiroshi Kusunoki,Yuto Okinaka,Yosuke Wada,Hiromitsu Kishimoto,Koutatsu Nagai,Yoko Hasegawa,Ken Shinmura

doi:10.3390/ijerph18062931

Abstract

This cross-sectional study aimed to demonstrate the association between physical frailty subdomains and oral frailty. This study involved community-dwelling older adults (aged ≥65 years). Physical frailty was assessed with the Japanese version of the Cardiovascular Health Study criteria. Oral frailty was defined as limitations in at least three of six domains. Logistic regression analysis was used to analyze the association between physical frailty risk and oral frailty. In addition, we examined the association between physical frailty subdomains (gait speed, grip strength, exhaustion, low physical activity, and weight loss) and oral frailty. A total of 380 participants were recruited for this study. Overall, 18% and 14% of the participants were at risk of physical frailty and had oral frailty, respectively. Physical frailty risk (odds ratio (OR) = 2.40, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.22–4.75, p = 0.012) was associated with oral frailty in multivariate analysis. In secondary analysis, among physical frailty subdomains, gait speed (OR = 0.85, 95% CI: 0.73–0.97, p = 0.019) was associated with oral frailty. The present findings suggest that physical frailty is closely related to oral frailty. Among physical frailty subdomains, decreased gait speed in particular is an important indicator related to the development of oral frailty.

Highlights

According to the Fried phenotype, physical frailty is defined as physical and functional vulnerability [1]
We considered physical frailty risk by limitations in at least two of the following conditions, the reference to the Japanese version of the Cardiovascular Health Study (J-CHS): [17] low gait speed, weakness, exhaustion, low physical activity, and weight loss
We considered exhaustion if participants responded “yes” to the following question from the Kihon Checklist (KCL) developed by the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare (Supplementary Table S1) [20]: “In the last 2 weeks, have you felt tired without a reason?” Low physical activity was considered if participants responded “no” for the given question: [18] “Do you engage in low levels of physical exercise aimed at health?” Weight loss was assessed by a response of “yes” to the question, “Have you lost 2 kg or more in the past 6 months?” [20]

Summary

Introduction

According to the Fried phenotype, physical frailty is defined as physical and functional vulnerability [1]. Physical frailty increases the risk of long-term care needs, falls, premature mortality, hospitalization, and disability [1,3,4]. Maintaining and improving overall health is important to preventing frailty and the associated consequences. Oral frailty is an important indicator of overall health. Oral frailty is defined as poor oral status that increases the risk of physical frailty, sarcopenia, long-term care needs, and premature mortality [5]. Oral frailty has been associated with social frailty and malnutrition, both of which increase the risk of physical frailty [6,7,8,9,10,11]

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Conclusion