Impaired taste and increased mortality in acutely hospitalized older people.

Taste ability is known to be impaired in elderly and even more so in acutely hospitalized elderly people. To our knowledge, no study has investigated the association between taste impairment and mortality. Our aim was to examine this association in acutely hospitalized older people. In a prospective study, 200 acutely hospitalized elderly people ≥70 years of age were included between November 2009 and October 2010 at the Oslo University Hospital, Norway. Exclusion criteria were cognitive impairment, nursing home residency, and terminal diseases. Comorbidity was registered with the Cumulative Illness Rating Scale, in addition to recording of age, gender, smoking, education, and number of medications. Taste ability was assessed quantitatively with the "taste strips method" in 174 patients (mean age: 84 years). Mortality until 1 January 2012 was obtained from hospital records. Fifty-six patients died during the observation period. The relative risk of death in total taste score quartile 4 compared with total taste score quartile 1 was 0.31 (95% confidence interval [95% CI]: 0.14-0.69, P = 0.004), after adjusting for age, gender, smoking, education, and Cumulative Illness Rating Scale. Adjusted 1-year mortality decreased from 30% in total taste score quartile 1 to 9% in total taste score quartile 4. Thus, impaired taste appears to be strongly associated with mortality in acutely hospitalized elderly people.

Association between oral health and body cell mass in hospitalised elderly.

OBJECTIVE: To examine whether oral health in hospitalised elderly was associated with body cell mass (BCM) measured with Bioimpedance spectroscopy. BACKGROUND: Body cell mass is the tissue producing the metabolic work necessary for all body functions. BCM is mainly muscle tissue. Low BCM is associated with diseases, ageing and poor nutritional status. Reduced oral health is also associated with these parameters; thus, BCM and oral health may be related. METHODS: Body cell mass was measured using Bioimpedance spectroscopy in 138 acutely hospitalised elderly ≥70 years. The number of own teeth, posterior occluding tooth pairs and decayed teeth were registered. Oral hygiene was registered with Mucosal-Plaque Score, an index based on assessment of plaque accumulation and mucosal/gingival inflammation. Mini Nutritional Assessment-Short Form, body mass index and handgrip strength were used as nutritional indicators. Comorbidity was assessed with Cumulative Index Rating Scale. RESULTS: Mean age was 83.2 ± 5.9 years, ranging from 70 to 101 years. Dentition status was significantly and positively associated with BCM. Reduced oral hygiene was significantly associated with low BCM. These findings remained significant after adjusting for confounders. CONCLUSION: These results show that compromised oral health was significantly associated with reduced BCM in hospitalised elderly.