The association between oral health problems and malnutrition in a population-based sample of older adults – The HUNT Study

Objective Investigate the relationship between oral health problems and malnutrition among Norwegian older adults. Design Cross-sectional study. Setting and participants We used data from 1571 participants in HUNT4 70+, a sub-study on participants ≥70 years of age within the fourth Trøndelag Health Study (HUNT4). Measurements The Revised Oral Assessment Guide-Jönköping (ROAG-J) was used to evaluate individual oral health items and to compute a total score and an ordinal variable for problem severities. The number of teeth and denture use were also included. Malnutrition was determined using body mass index, self-reported involuntary weight loss, and food intake. Poisson regression with robust error variance was used to estimate the association between oral health problems and the prevalence of malnutrition presented as prevalence ratios (PR) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Results The median age was 76.9 years, with 57.6% being women. A total of 57.5% of participants had oral health problems, and 17.8% had malnutrition. An increase in ROAG-J total score (PR 1.02, 95% CI 1.01–1.03) and severe oral health problems (PR 1.09, 95% CI 1.03–1.15) were associated with a higher prevalence of malnutrition. For individual ROAG-J items, problems with voice, lips, and dentures were associated with a higher prevalence of malnutrition. Conclusion Both the number and severity of oral health problems were associated with the prevalence of malnutrition. Our findings suggest that efforts should be made to prevent and address both oral health problems and malnutrition among Norwegian older adults.