Xerostomia, the perception of general and oral health and health risk behaviours in people over 65 years of age

Abstract

Background This study investigated the association between xerostomia and health risk behaviours, general and oral health and quality of life. Methods A cross-sectional study involving 800 adults over 65 years of age residing in Spain using a computer-assisted telephone questionnaire. The severity of xerostomia was assessed through the Xerostomia Inventory (XI). Both univariate and adjusted multinomial logistic regression were used to determine the risk (OR) of xerostomia. Results The sample comprised of 492 females (61.5%) and 308 males, with a mean age of 73.7 ± 5.8 years. Some, 30.7% had xerostomia: 25.6% mild, 4.8% moderate and 0.3% severe, the majority being female (34.8% vs 24%; p = 0.003). The mean XI was 24.6 ± 6.3 (95% CI 19.2–24.8) for those with poor health, whereas it was 17.4 ± 6.3 (95%CI 16.1–18.6) in those reporting very good health (p < 0.001). This difference was also observed in terms of oral health, with the XI mean recorded as 14.7 ± 10.7 for very poor oral health and 6.4 ± 5.4 for those with very good health (p = 0.002). Logistic regression showed that the highest OR for xerostomia was observed among adults with poor general health (2.81; 95%CI 1.8–4.3; p < 0.001) and for adjusted model the OR was still significant (2.18; 95%CI 1.4–3.4; p = 0.001). Those who needed help with household chores had 2.16 higher OR (95%CI 1.4–3.4; p = 0.001) and 1.69 (95%CI 1.1–2.7; p = 0.03) in the adjusted model. Females had a higher risk of suffering from xerostomia than males. Conclusion The strong association between xerostomia and the general and oral health status of older adults justifies the need for early assessment and regular follow-up.

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Prediction of xerostomia in elderly based on clinical characteristics and salivary flow rate with machine learning

“…Xerostomia is a significant burden in geriatric populations. In particular, dry mouth can affect oral health and everyday movements such as speaking, chewing, and swallowing 61 . In older individuals, xerostomia associated with reduced salivary flow may be related to dental caries, oral mucosal diseases such as oral candidiasis, recurrent aphthous ulcers, changes in taste, halitosis, or burning mouth syndrome 6 , 62 .…”

Hyposalivation but not Sjögren’s syndrome associated with microbial dysbiosis in women

“…Hyposalivation is the condition characterized by a reduced production of saliva, which can be caused by several disorders (Smith et al, 2007;Einhorn et al, 2020). Hyposalivation has an overall prevalence of approximately 22%, with a higher incidence in women than in men and increases with age (Agostini et al, 2018;Pina et al, 2020;Pérez-Jardón et al, 2022). Reduced saliva production can be caused by various disorders, including pathological or age-related factors, as reported in previous studies (Ogle, 2020;Pina et al, 2020).…”

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