Oral Frailty As A Risk Factor For Fall Incidents Among Community-dwelling People

Fall incidents are critical public concern, especially in older adults. Predicting falls and providing appropriate exercise advice to them are vital. Age-related oral frailty (i.e., accumulated poor oral health) is recently attracting attention. It has been reported that older adults with greater muscle strength have better chewing ability. However, the relationship between fall incidents and oral frailty remains unknown. PURPOSE: We investigated the relationship between fall incidents and the status of physical and oral frailty among a sample of Osaka Prefectural residents. METHODS: The study targeted community-dwelling people aged 50 and older who responded to an annual questionnaire survey using the Osaka Prefecture’s health application “ASMILE” for two consecutive years, 2020 and 2021. Responses from 7,591 (62 ± 7 years) people were analyzed. The questionnaires comprised the Kihon Checklist (KCL) developed by the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare as well as questions regarding exercise habits and the awareness of frailty. Those who answered “yes” to at least 7 of the 25 items, 2 of the 3 questions on oral function, and 3 of the 5 questions on physical activity in the KCL were classified as “frailty,” “oral frailty,” and “physical frailty,” respectively. RESULTS: In the survey conducted in 2020, 28% of the participants had frailty, while 17% had oral frailty and 7% had physical frailty. In the 2021 survey, 19% of the participants had a history of falls in the previous year. According to our logistic regression analysis, having oral frailty (odds ratio 1.6) and physical frailty as well as a lower awareness of frailty were significant explanatory variables for the occurrence of fall incidents during the subsequent year. CONCLUSION: Action to prevent fall incidents can be strengthened by identifying those with oral frailty as having a high risk of falling. Future studies need to clarify the mechanisms by which oral frailty induces fall incidents. - Factors associated with fall incidents based on logistic regression analysis Odds ratio 95% confidence interval p value Age 0.990 0.981-0.998 0.016 Gender (female) 1.133 0.996-1.288 0.057 Body mass index 1.018 0.998-1.038 0.073 Awareness of frailty 0.903 0.855-0.955 < 0.001 Exercise habit 1.010 0.869-1.175 0.894 Physical frailty 3.055 2.513-3.715 < 0.001 Oral frailty 1.552 1.341-1.795 < 0.001