Correlation between nutrition, oral health, and different sarcopenia groups among elderly outpatients of community hospitals: a cross-sectional study of 1505 participants in China

BACKGROUND: Studies have rarely explored the association between oral health status and different sarcopenia groups (possible sarcopenia, diagnosed sarcopenia, and severe sarcopenia). Moreover, these studies have not reported any definitive conclusions of their relationship. We aimed to characterize the oral health status, prevalence of sarcopenia, and risk factors in different sarcopenia groups of elderly outpatients of community hospitals. Furthermore, we determined the correlation among nutrition, oral health, and different sarcopenia groups. METHODS: Overall, 1505 elderly participants (aged ≥ 65 years) completed the survey. The Mini Nutritional Assessment short-form (MNA-SF) was used to assess the nutrition status of the elderly. Oral health was assessed using the instrument of the oral health assessment index of the elderly (General Oral Health Assessment Index [GOHAI]), and the number of remaining natural teeth (NRT) was counted. Data on muscle mass, muscle strength, and gait speed were collected, and sarcopenia was classified into three groups (possible sarcopenia, diagnosed sarcopenia, and severe sarcopenia) according to the Asian Working Group for Sarcopenia 2019. Multinomial logistic regression multivariate analysis was used to test their relationships. RESULTS: Eighty-eight (5.8%) participants were identified as having possible sarcopenia; 142 (9.5%), diagnosed sarcopenia; 136 (9.0%), severe sarcopenia; and 1139 (75.7%), no sarcopenia. Of the seven variables, advancing age was typically associated with an increasing prevalence of sarcopenia (odds ratio [OR] = 1.06–1.47, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.06–1.47). The results showed that household income (OR = 0.57, 95% CI = 0.33–0.98), education level (OR = 3.32, 95% CI = 1.09–10.07), and chronic diseases (OR = 0.34, 95% CI = 0.19–0.62) were significantly associated with the severe sarcopenia group. Physical activity scores were significantly associated with the diagnosed sarcopenia and severe sarcopenia groups. Participants with < 20 NRT were more likely to have diagnosed sarcopenia (OR = 5.55, 95% CI = 3.80–8.12) or severe sarcopenia (OR = 6.66, 95% CI = 4.13–10.76) than participants with > 20 NRT. The GOHAI score was associated with the diagnosed sarcopenia (OR = 5.55, 95% CI = 3.80–8.12) and severe sarcopenia (OR = 6.66, 95% CI = 4.13–10.78) groups. The MNA-SF score was associated with the different sarcopenia groups. CONCLUSIONS: Assessing early and improving lifestyle with respect to nutrition and oral health may be an effective way to reduce or delay the occurrence of sarcopenia.