Oral health-related quality of life is associated with physical frailty: A cross-sectional study of Japanese community-dwelling older adults.

Background: Physical frailty is related to adverse outcomes, and poor oral health has been linked to malnourishment. Subjective measures of oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) have been used as indicators of the oral health problems of older adults, and they have been associated with malnourishment. This study aimed to assess OHRQoL's association with physical frailty.

Methods: Cross-sectional study was conducted using data from the Nagasaki Islands Study that enrolled participants aged ≥60 years at Japanese national medical check-ups from 2014 to 2019. Physical frailty phenotype criteria were determined using the modified Fried frailty phenotype model. OHRQoL was assessed using the Geriatric Oral Health Assessment Index (GOHAI). Dentists conducted clinical dental examinations. Simple correlation and linear regression analyses were performed to investigate the associations of number of physical frailty phenotype criteria with GOHAI and other oral health indicators.

Results: Among 1341 participants with a mean age of 72 years, GOHAI score was significantly associated with number of physical frailty phenotype criteria ( = -0.01, 95% confidence interval: -0.02 to -0.01,  < 0.001). The association remained significant after adjustment for age, sex, body mass index, history of hypertension, history of diabetes mellitus, smoking status, Kessler-6 score, and number of remaining teeth.

Conclusions: Oral health-related quality of life was associated with physical frailty in Japanese community-dwelling older adults.