Abstract:

Determining and controlling the factors affecting the occurrence and progression of dental/periodontal diseases in elderly individuals will have a significant impact on increasing the quality of life of elderly. The aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between physical activity, nutrition, oral health-related quality of life and periodontal health/disease status in an elderly population. 33 volunteers aged between 65 and 74 who applied to our clinic between 2021 and 2022 participated in the study. Clinical periodontal parameter recordings, sociodemographic and anthropometric characteristics of the participants were recorded and Oral Health Impact Profile Scale (OHIP-14), Oral and Dental Health-Related Quality of Life-UK (OHRQoL-UK), Geriatric Oral Health Assessment Index (GOHAI), Physical Activity Scale for Elderly (PASE), Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA) indices were obtained using questionnaires. Normal distribution and homogeneity of variances were analyzed by Shapiro-Wilk and Levene tests, comparisons between groups were analyzed by Mann-Whitney U test and correlations were analyzed by Spearman correlation test (p<0.05). In the study population, PASE scores were higher in males than females (p<0.05). There was no significant difference in periodontal status test scores (p>0.05). PASE scores increased as monthly income increased (p<0.000), OHQoL-UK scores increased in the presence of systemic disease and tooth loss increased (p=0.025, p=0.026), OHIP-14 scores differed significantly between BMI subgroups (p=0.002) . Periodontal status didn’t have a significant effect on test scores related to lifestyle and quality of life in the geriatric population studied. The findings of this study conducted during the COVID-19 era may differ in larger elderly populations.

Keywords: