Association between Oral Frailty and Physical Frailty Subdomains in Chinese Community-Dwelling Older Adults:A Cross-sectional Study

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Methods This cross-sectional study was conducted in urban communities in Beijing from March 2022 to June 2023. We chose the Frailty Phenotype (FP) to assess physical frailty and Oral Frailty Index-8 to assess oral frailty. The analysis of factors affecting oral frailty was analyzed by multi-factorial logistic stepwise regression. Results 427 participants (147 women; mean age 81.81 ± 9.54 years) were enrolled in this study, 169 (39.58%) were non-oral frailty and 258(60.42%) were oral frailty. Visit a dental clinic less than annually (75.0%) and tooth loss(70.2%) are the most prevalent subdomains in oral frailty adults. After adjusting covariates, logistic regression analysis revealed that frailty phenotype (OR: 1.433, 95% CI: 1.150–1.785,p = 0.001)was associated with oral frailty. In the subdomains of physical frailty, exhaustion( OR = 2.363, 95% CI:1.302–4.289, p = 0.005 ) and slow gait speed (OR = 1.752, 95% CI:1.076–2.853, p = 0.024 ) were associated with oral frailty . Conclusion People with physical frailty should be more concerned about oral health issues, exhaustion and slow gait speed can be the sensitive indicators of oral frailty.