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SYSTEMATIC REVIEW article

Front. Public Health
Sec. Aging and Public Health
Volume 12 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2024.1501793
This article is part of the Research Topic Oral Health and Successful Aging: Integrating Basic Research, Clinical Insights and Community Health View all articles

Prevalence and unfavourable outcome of oral frailty in older people: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Provisionally accepted
Sheng-Rui Zhu Sheng-Rui Zhu 1,2Liu-Ying Wei Liu-Ying Wei 3Kui Jia Kui Jia 1Yuan-Xi Xie Yuan-Xi Xie 1ZhengKeKe Tan ZhengKeKe Tan 1Shutian Mo Shutian Mo 1*Wenzhen Tang Wenzhen Tang 1*
  • 1 First Affiliated Hospital, Guangxi Medical University, Nanning, China
  • 2 Universiti Sains Malaysia Health Campus, Kota Bharu, Kelantan, Malaysia
  • 3 Nanning Fourth People's Hospital, Nanning, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Background and objective: Oral frailty (OF) refers to a decline in oral function amongst older individuals that often occurs alongside declines in cognitive and physical abilities. We conducted a study to determine the prevalence and unfavourable outcomes of OF in the elderly population to provide medical staff with valuable insights into the disease burden associated with OF.Methods: We systematically searched six key electronic databases: PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, Cochrane Library, Scopus and CINAHL from inception to March 2024, to identify the potential studies that reported the prevalence or the unfavourable outcomes of OF amongst older people. Studies that did not have accessible data were excluded. Two researchers worked independently to retrieve the literature, collect data and evaluate the quality of the included studies. Data analysis was conducted using R Project 4.1.1 and Review Manager 5.3 software.Results: We identified 28 studies that met the inclusion criteria, including 27,927 older people. The pooled prevalence of OF amongst older people was 32% (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.24, 0.41). Subgroup analyses indicated that the prevalence of OF is influenced by the setting, sample, design of studies, and assessment instruments. In addition, OF was associated with a high risk of physical frailty (odds ratio (OR)=1.67; 95% CI: 1.38, 2.02), malnutrition (OR=2.27; 95% CI: 1.75, 2.96), low dietary variety (OR=1.98, 95% CI: 1.15, 3.39) and social withdrawal (OR=1.42; 95% CI: 1.18, 1.71).3 Conclusion: This systematic review and meta-analysis revealed that OF is prevalent amongst older people. OF may affect the prognosis of older individuals and thus necessitates comprehensive assessment and management as part of an integrated approach.

    Keywords: Oral frailty, Elderly, Physical frailty, Meta-analysis, Outcome

    Received: 25 Sep 2024; Accepted: 22 Nov 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Zhu, Wei, Jia, Xie, Tan, Mo and Tang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence:
    Shutian Mo, First Affiliated Hospital, Guangxi Medical University, Nanning, China
    Wenzhen Tang, First Affiliated Hospital, Guangxi Medical University, Nanning, China

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