SYSTEMATIC REVIEW article
Front. Public Health
Sec. Aging and Public Health
Prevalence and influencing factors of oral frailty in older adults with diabetes: A systematic review and meta-analysis
Provisionally accepted
- Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, China
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Objective: To systematically evaluate the prevalence and influencing factors of oral frailty in older adults with diabetes. Methods: We systematically searched for studies on the prevalence and influencing factors of oral frailty in older adults with diabetes across databases including CNKI, Wanfang Database, VIP Database, China Biology Medicine Disc (CBM), PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, CINAHL, and the Cochrane Library, from database inception to August 7, 2025. Results: Nine studies were ultimately included, involving a total of 2395 patients. The meta-analysis showed that the prevalence of oral frailty in older adults with diabetes was 52% (95%CI: 0.43-0.61, I2=95.15%, P<0.01). Influencing factors included age (OR=3.91, 95%CI: 2.13-5.68), smoking (OR=4.64, 95%CI: 1.95-7.33), polypharmacy (OR=8.70, 95%CI: 3.26-14.14), duration of diabetes (OR=3.29, 95%CI: 1.55-5.04), glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) level (OR=3.61, 95%CI: 1.47-5.74), number of remaining teeth (OR=11.84, 95%CI: 4.47-19.22), and oral health-related self-efficacy (OR=0.18, 95%CI: 0.10-0.27). Conclusion: The prevalence of oral frailty is high among older adults with diabetes and is influenced by multiple factors. Healthcare providers should incorporate the assessment of oral frailty into routine dynamic monitoring for these patients. Based on individual conditions and clinical contexts, personalized, comprehensive, and early intervention plans should be developed through a multidisciplinary approach to prevent or delay the progression of oral frailty. Systematic review registration: https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO/view/CRD42025 1119100, identifier CRD420251119100.
Keywords: oral frailty1, Diabetes2, Older Adults3, prevalence4, influencing factors5, meta-analysis6
Received: 11 Sep 2025; Accepted: 14 Nov 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Wang, Wang and Zhao. 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: Xin Wang, wangxinsfyy@126.com
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