Relationship Between Oral Health and Cognitive Impairment in the Older Adults of Bushehr City

Oral health in elderly people affects the choice of type of food consumed, physical and psychological condition of the person and their social communication and is of great importance. Considering the importance of issues related to oral health and cognitive impairments in the elderly, this study was conducted with the aim of investigating the relationship between oral health and cognitive impairments in the elderly of Bushehr city in 1400.

This descriptive study was conducted in 1400 on 120 elderly people who were selected based on stratified sampling from comprehensive health centers in Bushehr city. Data were collected using demographic information form, cognitive impairment test (CIT-6) and "Oral and Dental Health Assessment Index" (GOHAI) and then analyzed using frequency tables, descriptive statistics including mean and standard deviation, correlation test and regression model at a significance level of 0.05

Most of the study participants (60.8%) were men. The mean age of the subjects was 64.88±4.16 years and most of them (81.6%) were retired or unemployed. The mean score of oral health was 42.49±6.06 and the mean score of cognitive disorder was 9.06±2.45. The statistical results showed that there is an inverse and significant relationship between oral and dental health and cognitive disorder of the elderly that with increasing oral health status, the cognitive impairment of the elderly decreases (r=-0.267, P-value= 0.003).

the health team including dentists, nurses and doctors can understand the importance of the issue of oral health of the elderly and the complications caused by Educate about the level of hygiene and ask the personnel and staff of health services to take this issue into consideration in their patient edu-cation programs.