Association between periodontitis and systemic medication intake: A case-control study.

BACKGROUND

To investigate the frequency of systemic drugs taken by elderly patients with or without periodontitis and the possible association between medication consumption and the severity of periodontitis.

METHODS

A total of 1221 patients, including 608 with generalized moderate to severe periodontitis (periodontitis group) and 613 age- and gender-matched individuals with healthy periodontium (healthy group) were selected. Systemic conditions, medications and periodontal status were recorded. Medication intake frequency (%) was compared using unconditional logistic regression.

RESULTS

The top three most common medications were angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors (17.9%), antidepressants (17.8%), and lipid-lowering medications (16.5%). Both ACE inhibitors and antidepressants showed statistically higher intake frequency in the periodontitis group relative to healthy controls (21.5% versus 14.4%; odds ratio [OR] = 1.64), (21.1% versus 14.5%, OR = 1.57) (P < 0.01). Additionally, intake of oral hypoglycemic agents, calcium channel blockers (CCB), insulin, and diuretics were significantly higher in the periodontitis group with OR = 2.49, 2.32, 2.08 and 1.79, respectively (P < 0.05). Several medications demonstrated a disease severity-dependent association comparing generalized severe periodontitis with moderate periodontitis and healthy group: oral hypoglycemic agents (17.4% versus 16.8% versus 8.0%), CCB (14.8% versus 14.4% versus 8.0%) and anticonvulsants (13.4% versus 7.7% versus 6.4%) with OR of 2.43, 1.99, and 2.28 (severe periodontitis versus healthy group), respectively.

CONCLUSION

There was a significantly higher frequency of medication intake related to cardiovascular disease and diabetes in patients with periodontitis. A disease severity-dependence with medication intake frequency was also noted. This study provides indirect evidence for the possible relationship between systemic diseases and periodontitis.