Sociodemographic, general health and oral health factors associated with difficulty in eating among elderly people: a cross-sectional study, Brazil, 2019
Year: 2025
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: OBJECTIVE: To identify sociodemographic, general health, and oral health factors associated with difficulty in eating among elderly people in Brazil. METHODS: This is a cross-sectional, population-based study that used data from the 2019 National Health Survey with elderly people (60+ years). Crude analysis was performed using the chi-square test to verify associations between variables and difficulty in eating. After investigating multicollinearity, adjusted prevalence ratios (PR) were calculated using Poisson multiple regression. Cramer's V was used to measure effect size. RESULTS: The sample consisted of 21,048 elderly individuals. Prevalence of severe or very severe difficulty in eating was 4.1% (95% confidence interval [95%CI] 3.7; 4.5). Multivariate analysis revealed that this condition was higher for females (PR 1.00; 95%CI 1.00; 1.01), older age (PR 1.01; 95%CI 1.00; 1.03), being illiterate (PR 1.01; 95%CI 1.00; 1.01), smoking (PR 1.01; 95%CI 1.00; 1.02), not having health insurance (PR 1.01; 95%CI 1.00; 1.01), multimorbidity (PR 1.01; 95%CI 1.01; 1.02), not brushing teeth daily (PR 1.07; 95%CI 1.03; 1.12) and not using dentures (PR 1.02; 95%CI 1.01; 1.02). Cramer's V indicated that associations that were significant had a weak effect. CONCLUSION: Eating difficulties among the elderly were greater in those with unfavorable socioeconomic conditions, smokers, those with multimorbidity, those with inadequate oral hygiene and those who did not use dentures. The associations found suggest a weak relationship, indicating that other factors may also influence eating difficulties.
Authors: Laís Naara de Sousa Soares, Ana Estefanny Alves Cabral, Sabrina Barth de Andrade Luz, Mariella Agostinho Gonçalves Lourenço, Rafael Barroso Pazinatto, Bianca Souto de Medeiros Santos, Laércio Almeida de Melo
Language: English
Subfield: Physiology
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W4412700325