ORAL HEALTH CONDITIONS AND FUNCTIONAL CAPACITY IN ELDERLY: A POPULATION-BASED LONGITUDINAL STUDY
aged, oral health, frail elderly
The study proposes a longitudinal analysis between oral health conditions and the functional capacity of the elderly population from the municipality of Macaíba-RN. For that, two waves of observations were performed in a elderly population representative cohort from this municipality. The oral health conditions examination sought to evaluate the degree of caries attack (DMFT), the periodontal condition (CPI/PAL), pairs of teeth in occlusion, the use and necessity of dental prostheses and the presence of changes in soft tissue. The functional capacity evaluation, which determines their degree of dependence, was obtained through the application of the Katz index and the Lawton-Brody index. Furthermore, a questionnaire was used to characterize the socioeconomic and demographic profile of the sample. Data from the 209 individuals investigated in the second wave revealed a predominantly female sample (66.5%). The mean age was 75.2 (± 8.14) years, with an average family income of 1.99 (± 1.49) minimum wages. The number of self-reported diseases by the elderly was 1.7 (± 1.1) on average, and regular consumption of medications was reported by 182 subjects (87.1%). As to the oral health longitudinal evaluation, measured from the proposed multidimensional indicator, it was observed that for 22.2% of the subjects there was a worsening in the oral health condition, while 115 individuals (63.9%) maintained the same oral health conditions and, therefore, to 13.9% was observed an improvement in these conditions. Functional capacity was not associated with these changes. Although the functional capacity was not associated with the oral health condition, it was observed that the oral health situation of the elderly from Macaíba-RN is precarious and stable over time, which makes it difficult to investigate associations that may indicate factors related to this context. It is understood that the findings presented are extremely useful to foster reflections on the living conditions of these individuals regarding health policies, especially the policies of oral health, which clearly does not prioritize this age group.