Oral status associated with xerostomia and oral health-related quality of life: an older population-based cross-sectional study in China.

BACKGROUND

Xerostomia is a common condition among older adults and has been associated with adverse oral health outcomes and reduced oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL). This study aimed to investigate the associations among clinical oral health indicators, xerostomia, and OHRQoL in a community-dwelling elderly population in China.

METHODS

This cross-sectional study was conducted among 583 community-dwelling adults aged ≥ 60 years in Jingzhou, Hubei, China. The severity of xerostomia was assessed using the xerostomia inventory (XI), and OHRQoL was evaluated using the geriatric oral health assessment index (GOHAI). Clinical oral examinations included assessments of decayed teeth, filled teeth, missing teeth, periodontitis, and prosthetic restoration status. Logistic regression was performed to examine the association between oral health indicators and xerostomia. Linear regression was used to evaluate factors associated with GOHAI scores. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis was conducted to explore the discriminative performance of combined oral health-related indicators for differentiating participants with and without xerostomia symptoms classified by the XI.

RESULTS

The sample comprised 330 females (56.6%) and 253 males (43.4%), with a mean age of 71 years (SD = 6.4), followed by mild (39.3%), moderate (11.3%) and severe xerostomia (0.2%), respectively. Compared with participants without tooth loss, higher odds of xerostomia were observed among those with more than 10 missing teeth (OR = 1.94, 95% CI: 1.04 -3.60). Lower GOHAI scores were independently associated with xerostomia (B = -7.05, 95% CI: -8.19 to - 5.91), 6-10 missing teeth (B = -2.80, 95% CI: -4.74 to -0.86), and > 10 missing teeth (B = -3.33, 95% CI: -5.19 to -1.47). The combined model demonstrated acceptable discriminative performance (AUC = 0.720).

CONCLUSION

Xerostomia was prevalent among community-dwelling older adults and was independently associated with greater tooth loss. Both xerostomia and advanced tooth loss were independently associated with poorer OHRQoL.