Poor self-perception of oral health is associated with the presence of frailty in older people living in the community

Objective. To determine the association between poor self-perceived oral health and frailty in older people. Materials and methods. Cross-sectional study in older people beneficiaries of the Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS) of Mexico City. For oral health self-perception, the General/Geriatric Oral Health Assessment Index (GOHAI) was used. Select the frailty phenotype described by Fried and colleagues (frail, pre-frail, and no frail). Results. A total of 1 173 old people (60 years and older) with an average age of 66.0 (5.7) years, women 46.1% (n=541).The mean (95%CI) of GOHAI-Sp was 49.2 (48.9-49.6). Was considered 9.2% (n=108) frail, 59.9% (n=703) pre-frail and 30.9% (n=362) no frail. The strength of association (odds ratio, OR) for poor self-perception of oral health and frail was OR 2.4 (95%CI 1.5,3.7) and adjusted OR 1.7 (95%CI 1.1,2.8) used as a reference for non-fragile.There is no significant association between poor self-perception of oral health and pre-frail. Conclusion. Poor self-perceived oral health may be an indicator of the presence of frailty in old people.