Nutrient intakes and medication use in elderly individuals with and without dry mouths

The nutrition of the elderly depends on various factors. Oral health, especially oral dryness, can be an important risk factor. In this study, we attempted to determine whether dry mouth is associated with compromised nutrient intakes.

A total of 120 participants aged 65-86 yrs (mean age: 69 ± 1 y) were included in this study. Demographic and health-related characteristics, living status, meals, number of medications, medical conditions, chewing ability, and quality of life, the Oral Health Impact Profile (the OHIP-14) were assessed. We performed one day 24-hr recall assessment for nutrient analyses. The differences of the means between the dry-mouth and non-dry-mouth groups were analyzed. Elderly subjects with xerostomia-induced dry mouth were classified as those who reported at least one dryness symptom on a questionnaire.

A significant difference in population distribution was observed among the elderly who took medications for hypertension, diabetes and osteoporosis and was significantly higher in the dry-mouth group (70.2%) than in the non-dry-mouth group (44.4%) (P = 0.005). Compared with the non-dry-mouth group (50.8%), a significantly higher proportion (73.7%) of participants in the dry-mouth group took multiple medicines (≥ 4 medications) (P = 0.019). The intakes of vegetable fat, vitamin E, folate and water in the dry-mouth group were lower than in the non-dry-mouth group. The intakes of fluoride and ω-3 fatty acids were significantly lower in the dry-mouth group than in the non-dry-mouth group.

The participants in the dry-mouth group exhibited low nutrient and water intakes. It is recommended that the elderly with dry mouth should drink sufficient water and receive targeted and specific nutritional guidance to prevent malnutrition.