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

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. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12877-022-03667-3.