Abstract
AIMS: The objective of this research is to investigate the association between the number of teeth and frailty in the geriatric population. DESIGN: This cross-sectional study was conducted in Shanghai Fifth People's Hospital, Fudan University, from May 2021 to September 2021. METHODS: A cohort of 538 community-dwelling older adults aged 60 years or above was included in the analysis. The Tilburg Frailty Indicator, Mini-Mental State Examination and Mini Nutritional Assessment Short-Form were employed to assess frailty, cognitive function and nutritional status, respectively. The statistics software SPSS v21.0 and its process plug-in were employed for statistical analysis, and the significance of intermediary effects was tested using the bootstrap sampling test method and the process plug-in. RESULTS: The number of teeth influenced frailty through three mediating pathways: (a) nutritional status (effect = -0.038); (b) cognitive function (effect = -0.021); (c) nutritional status and cognitive function combined (effect = -0.038). The total mediating effect accounted for 50.26% of the overall effect. CONCLUSION: These findings highlight the need to raise awareness of oral health care among older adults and implement comprehensive interventions to promote active aging and improve their overall well-being.