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Updated: Aug 14, 2025
Oral Health Assessment by Lay Personnel for Older Adults
Published on: February 2, 2020
Periodontitis and low cognitive performance: A population-based study
Crystal Marruganti1,2,3, Giacomo Baima4,5, Mario Aimetti4,5
1Unit of Periodontology, Endodontology and Restorative Dentistry, Department of Medical Biotechnologies, University of Siena, Siena, Italy.
Aim:
To study the epidemiological association between periodontitis and low cognitive performance among older adults, within a representative sample of the U.S.
Materials And Methods:
Data from 2086 older adults (≥60 years old), representative of 77.1 million people, were retrieved from the NHANES 2011-2014 database. Periodontitis cases were identified and classified according to the AAP/CDC criteria (mild, moderate, and severe). Cognitive function was assessed through the Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer's disease (CERAD), the animal fluency test (AFT), the digit symbol substitution test (DSST), and the global cognition score. The lowest non-survey weighted quartile for each cognitive test was defined as low cognitive performance. Simple and multiple regression analyses were performed.
Results:
Moderate and severe periodontitis were significantly associated with a low DSST performance (OR = 1.66 and OR = 2.97, respectively). Each millimetre increase in mean CAL was associated with a lower AFT (OR = 1.44), DSST (OR = 1.86), and global cognition (OR = 1.50) performance.
Conclusions:
The findings of the present study suggest the existence of an independent association between periodontitis and low cognitive performance among older adults (≥60 years old).
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