Denture wearing during sleep doubles the risk of pneumonia in the very elderly.

ABSTRACT: Poor oral health and hygiene are increasingly recognized as major risk factors for pneumonia among the elderly. To identify modifiable oral health-related risk factors, we prospectively investigated associations between a constellation of oral health behaviors and incident pneumonia in the community-living very elderly (i.e., 85 years of age or older). At baseline, 524 randomly selected seniors (228 men and 296 women; mean age, 87.8 years) were examined for oral health status and oral hygiene behaviors as well as medical assessment, including blood chemistry analysis, and followed up annually until first hospitalization for or death from pneumonia. During a 3-year follow-up period, 48 events associated with pneumonia (20 deaths and 28 acute hospitalizations) were identified. Among 453 dent

SUBMITTER: Iinuma T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4541085 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature