ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Nutr.
Sec. Nutritional Epidemiology
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fnut.2025.1586860
This article is part of the Research TopicOral Function and Nutritional Status among Vulnerable Elderly PopulationsView all articles
Factors Affecting Oral Frailty and Nutritional Status in Older Adults Living Alone
Provisionally accepted
- Department of Gerontology, Graduate School of East-West Medicine, Kyung Hee University, Yongin, Republic of Korea
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The global aging population is rapidly increasing, with South Korea experiencing the fastest aging rate among the OECD countries. Consequently, the number of older adults living alone is sharply increasing, creating an urgent social issue that necessitates comprehensive and systematic care service policies.Frailty is a key indicator of the overall health status of older adults, and because oral health and nutrition are closely linked, continuous monitoring is essential in this population. This study aimed to analyze the factors influencing oral frailty and nutritional status among older adults living alone in South Korea by using an oral frailty screening tool, which is one of the recently developed function-specific frailty screening tools. A survey of 606 adults aged 65 years and older examined their sociodemographic characteristics, health status, oral health, and nutritional status. Logistic regression analysis identified key factors affecting oral frailty and nutritional status. Results revealed a direct association between oral frailty and nutritional status, with loneliness emerging as a common factor influencing both variables. These findings highlight the importance of maintaining a balanced diet alongside proper oral hygiene and emphasize the need for integrated interventions including emotional support. Therefore, this study underscores the need for continuous care strategies to promote healthy aging and improve the quality of life of older adults.
Keywords: older adults, Single-person households, Oral frailty, nutrition, Isolation
Received: 03 Mar 2025; Accepted: 06 May 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Cha, Jung, Kim and Lim. 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: Hee-Sook Lim, Department of Gerontology, Graduate School of East-West Medicine, Kyung Hee University, Yongin, Republic of Korea
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