Hospitalization for Oral Health-Related Conditions of the Australian Ageing Population: Two Decades of Analysis.

Wisam Kamil,Estie Kruger,Berwin Turlach,Marc Tennant

doi:10.3390/geriatrics7010002

Wisam Kamil, Estie Kruger + Show 2 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/geriatrics7010002

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Abstract

The burden of oral health care increases among older people, with a profound challenge in utilising dental services in primary dental care settings. This study aimed to analyse two decades of nationwide hospital separation patterns due to oral health-related conditions among older people. Ageing population data were obtained from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, including people aged 65 years and older. All principal diagnoses of oral health conditions (ICD-10-AM) were analysed in this study. The hospitalisation data included all separations of older people for the financial years 1998–1999 to 2018–2019. A total of 205,461 hospital separations were recorded for older people over a period of twenty-one years. More than 60% of these separations were collectively attributed to dental caries, disorders of teeth and supporting structures, diseases of the jaws, diseases of the pulp and periapical tissues. However, the average rate of separations per 10,000 people due to dental caries was the highest among the dental conditions (8.68). Furthermore, the remaining oral health-related conditions predict an annual percentage increase in the rate that would compromise their oral health quality of life. Dental caries and its sequela seem to be the leading cause for oral health-related hospital admissions in Australia for people aged 65 and older. This could be an indicator of the inadequacy of disease management in the primary dental care setting.

Highlights

The world is facing an ageing demographic transition where older people are projected to outnumber children [1]
Dental caries was the most common diagnosis attributed to these hospital separations (26%)
The ageing cohort separation data analysis indicated an apparent increase in the hospitalisation rate due to oral health-related conditions over twenty-one years

Summary

Introduction

The world is facing an ageing demographic transition where older people are projected to outnumber children [1]. This situation is accompanied by increased demands for ageing in place [2]. Older people have an increased prevalence of multiple systemic conditions, impairment, and use of medications [10,11], all impacting their oral health systems [4]. The continuous exposure of medically compromised older patients to polypharmacy is a common factor influencing their salivary flow rate and buffering capacity associated with a high risk of dental caries [12]. Physiologic and pathologic age changes in this population add an extra burden on the need for dental care services of elderly patients [12,13]

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