ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Aging Neurosci.
Sec. Neurocognitive Aging and Behavior
This article is part of the Research TopicOral Health and Successful Aging: Integrating Basic Research, Clinical Insights and Community HealthView all 5 articles
Association between oral frailty and cognitive impairment in older adults: a cross-sectional study
Provisionally accepted
- 1Fourth Hospital of Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang, China
- 2Tianjin First Central Hospital, Tianjin, China
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Objectives: To analyze the relationship between oral frailty and cognitive impairment in old people and explore the association between oral frailty and different domains of cognitive function. Methods: A total of 461 community-dwelling old people aged ≥60 years in Shijiazhuang, Hebei Province, China were selected as the research objects. The number of natural teeth, the number of daily teeth brushing, and the Geriatric Oral Health Assessment Index scale for old people were used to assess oral frailty. Cognitive function was assessed using the Montreal Cognitive Assessment scale. Results: The prevalence of oral frailty was 33.4%. The prevalence of cognitive impairment was 65.7%. Compared with the non-oral frailty group, the oral frailty group had a higher risk of cognitive impairment (OR=1.959). Old people with low oral function have a high risk of cognitive impairment. Oral frailty was significantly associated with cognitive impairment in old people aged ≥80 years (OR=2.468). Oral frailty was associated with two domains of cognitive function: visuospatial and executive function (OR= 0.532), language domain (OR= 0.821). Conclusions: There is a correlation between oral frailty and oral function and cognitive impairment in old people in the community, and the association between oral frailty and cognitive function is significant in old people aged ≥80 years. Oral frailty is associated with visuospatial and executive function and language function.
Keywords: Oral frailty, Oral function, cognitive impairment, Visuospatial andexecutive function, Language function
Received: 01 Apr 2025; Accepted: 27 Oct 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Lu, Wei, Zhang, Li, Zhai and Cheng. 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: Ruili Zhang, 46610085@hebmu.edu.cn
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