(P22-014-25) The Mediation Role of Dietary Inflammatory Pattern on the Association Between Oral Health and Frailty

Objectives: Frailty is “a state of vulnerability and non-resilience with limited reserve capacity in major organs”. Several dietary patterns have shown to be associated with frailty status, including dietary inflammatory patterns. Oral health is associated with all-cause mortality, cardiovascular disease and mortality, quality of life, and disability-free life expectancy. A previous study suggested that the higher the number of functional teeth, the lower the dietary inflammatory index. Hence, the aim of the study was to explore whether the effect of oral health on frailty status was via its effect on diet.

Methods: Data from 5,663 community-dwelling participants aged ≥55 years old in the Healthy Aging Longitudinal Study in Taiwan were used. Number of remaining nature teeth and/or missing teeth, prostheses, and subjective dental functions were self-reported. The Empirical Dietary Inflammatory Patterns-Healthy Aging Longitudinal Study in Taiwan (EDIP-HALT) at baseline was calculated using a food frequency questionnaire. Frailty was assessed with Fried’s criteria in 2008–2013 and reassessed in 2013–2020. The total and indirect effect of dental function on frailty via EDIP-HALST were estimated by mediation analyses.

Results: The direct effect of < 21 nature tooth on frailty/death was OR=1.59 (95% CI=1.22-2.08); the correlation coefficient between < 21 nature tooth and EDIP-HALST score was β=0.61 (95% CI=0.28-0.83); the indirect effect of < 21 nature tooth on frailty/death was OR=1.04 (95% CI=1.01-1.07); the proportion mediated was around 9.10% (p=0.019). The corresponding numbers for subjective eating restriction were OR=1.44 (95% CI=1.19-1.74); β=0.39 (95% CI=0.19-0.58); OR=1.02 (95% CI=1.01-1.05); 6.92% (p=0.007).

Conclusions: Poor oral health and pro-inflammatory diet were associated with higher risk of developing prefrail and frailty/death in baseline robust participants. Pro-inflammatory diet mediates a small but statistically significant proportion of the relationship between poor dental function and frailty/death.

Funding Sources: This work was supported by the National Health Research Institutes in Taiwan (Grant No. PH-114-PP-18) and National Science and Technology Council (Grant No. 113-2314-B-400-015).