Investigation of the Correlation Between the State of Prosthodontic Appliances, Organ System Dysfunctions and the Degree of Independence in Elderly Home Residents

摘要

The aim of the investigation was to evaluate the quality of prosthodontic appliances relative to chronic organ system dysfunctions and the level of independency in a group of elderly individuals. The study group included 175 elderly home residents in the Zagreb region over 60 years of age (average 76.8 years, S.D. 10.72), which consisted of 66 male (37%) and 109 female (63%) individuals. The examination included dental status, oral and general health history. Quality of prosthodontic appliances was evaluated according to the CDA index for fixed, and the modified Nevalainen et al. index for removable prosthodontic appliances. Assessment of functional independency of an individual was done using the Activity of Daily Living index by Miura, Araki and Umenai. Over 82% of individuals were in need of fixed, removable or combined prosthodontic treatment. The most common general health conditions involved cardiovascular (29%) and locomotor (18%) systems. Correlation was determined between the poor state of prosthodontic appliances and chronic conditions of CVS (r=0.54, p<0.05) and locomotor (r=0.69, p<0.05) systems, psychological (r=0.88, p<0.05), neurological (r=0.72, p<0.05) and digestive (r=0.65, p<0.05) dysfunctions. Spearman's correlation analysis determined significant correlation between the ADL and the CDA indices scores (r=-0.468, p<0.01), and the ADL and the modified Nevalainen's et al. indices scores (r=-0.572, p<0.05), where lower ADL scores were correlated to the poorer condition of the prosthodontic appliances.