Association between oral health behavior and multiple chronic diseases among middle-aged and older adults in Beijing, China

Abstract Objectives: To evaluate the association between oral health behavior and multiple chronic diseases among middle-aged and older adults. Methods: Data from the Beijing Health Service Survey were used to estimate the association between oral hygiene behavior and risk of multiple chronic diseases using multivariate logistic models(N=18,158). Results: The risk of overall chronic diseases (OR=1.27, 95% CI:1.18~1.37), cardiovascular diseases (CVD, OR=1.30, 95% CI:1.21~1.39) and endocrine or nutritional metabolic disorders (OR=1.11, 95% CI:1.01~1.22) was higher in those who with poor oral health behavior. There was no significant correlation between oral health behavior and the risk of diseases of the musculoskeletal, respiratory, digestive, and genitourine systems. Conclusions: Poor oral hygiene practices were associated with a higher risk of overall chronic diseases, CVD and diabetes mellitus (DM) in middle-aged and older people. These findings motivate further studies to evaluate whether improved oral health behavior may prevent the incidence of chronic diseases.