Oral health and self-rated health in community-dwelling older adults in Colombia

Background: The relationship between oral health and specific health conditions has been studied. However, data about the relationship with self-rated health is not clear. The aim of this study is to determine the association between different parameters of oral health and the self-rated health status (SRHS) in Colombian community-dwelling older adults. Methods: This is a secondary analysis of the SABE-Colombia study performed in 2015. The dependent variable was defined as the SRHS status assessed by the question "Compared with other people your age: Do you consider your health status to be: better, equal, or worse?” The oral health parameters were total edentulism, the GOHAI score, and the use of fixed and removable dental prosthesis. An adjusted ordinal logistic regression was performed by any independent variable. Results: After the exclusion of missing data, 17945 persons were included in the final analysis. 10.6% reported worse, 37.6% reported equal, and 51.6% as better SRHS respectively. The worse SRHS group are older and had a higher proportion of dependence, cognitive impairment, and depressive symptoms. The frequency of total edentulism and the lower mean score of GOHAI were significant in the worse SHRS group. After the multivariable logistic regression, all parameters of oral health status were associated with a worse SRHS. Conclusion: In our study, the oral health parameters were associated with self-rated health status. This result supports the inclusion of oral health in comprehensive geriatric assessment.