Association between obesity/overweight and dental caries in psychiatric patients

BACKGROUND: Patients with psychiatric illness are more prone to develop obesity and dental caries due to general self-negligence associated with psychiatric illness and side effect of various medications used in psychiatry. OBJECTIVE: Assess the association between dental caries status and obesity among resident patients. DESIGN: Descriptive, cross-sectional. SETTING: Mental health hospital. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A sample of psychiatric in-patients was recruited. Dental caries detection was performed according to the World Health Organization criteria and body mass index (BMI) was measured. Relationships were assessed using multivariable logistic regression. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Relationships between decayed, missing and filled teeth (DMFT) and obesity. SAMPLE SIZE: 223. RESULTS: The sample included 126 males and 97 female with a mean (SD) age of 42.3 (2.2) years. The prevalence of dental caries was 92.6%. The mean (SD) DMFT score was 5.2 (4.2). Twenty-seven percent were schizophrenic, 21.9% had mental retardation and 19.7% had bipolar mood disorder. The mean (SD) BMI was 27.7 (6.3) kg/m(2). One hundred twenty-three (55.2%) of in-patients were classified as normal weight, 47 (21.1%) as overweight, and 45 (20.2%) as obese. The logistic regression model showed a strong association between caries and obesity/overweight (adjusted odds ratios=2.7; 95% CI=1.4 – 4.3, P<.001). CONCLUSION: The present study demonstrated a significant association between the frequency of caries and obesity/overweight among resident patients at a psychiatric hospital. LIMITATIONS: Since the data were cross-sectional, causal relationships cannot be established and the observed association could be due to other unexplored factors. CONFLICT OF INTEREST: None.