Evaluation of the Health Status and Dietary Intakes of the Elderly in Rural Areas by Dental Status

ABSTRACT

In Korea, there has been a rapid increase in the number and proportion of elderly people, especially in rural areas, due to improvements in the standard of living and medical technology. One of the main health problems for the elderly people is dental health, which can cause nutritional and health problems. Thus, in this study, the dental health status and health status in relation to nutritional intake were analyzed. A total of 155 rural-dwelling elderly people (68 males, 87 females) over the ages of 65 participated in this study. The subjects were classified into three groups; the no denture no teeth group, denture user group, and natural teeth group. The dietary intake, biochemical health status, and anthropometry were evaluated. Can-pro 3.0 was used to assess dietary intakes and the SPSS 12.0 program was used for statistical analysis. The results showed that the natural teeth group had better nutritional and dietary intake status than the no denture no teeth group. The dietary assessment showed that there were differences in food intakes among the groups, which depended on their dental health status. In conclusion, dietary management is required for the elderly since each group has a different ability to chew food depending on their dental health status. In addition, the elderly will need different therapeutic diets because of the high prevalence of chronic degenerative diseases.