Background: The number of Vietnamese older adults is increasing rapidly. Malnutrition and oral health problem are problems of concern. The purpose of this study is to compare nutritional status in Vietnamese older adult inpatients with healthy oral and those with changes/unhealthy oral.
Methods: The study was designed as cross-sectional and was conducted in three large hospitals in northern Vietnam, 2021. The data about nutritional status and oral health status assessed by Oral Health Assessment Tool (OHAT) for 344 older adult inpatients were collected by dietitians.
Results: The results show that about one fourth of subjects had oralchanges/unhealthy conditions.The rate of malnutrition in the oral changes/unhealthy group (49.4%) was two timeshigher than in the oral healthy group (21.8%) with p<0.05. The main oral health problemswere related to natural teeth and cleanliness. Protein intake ofthe oral changes/unhealthy group was lower than for the healthy group, about 3g with p<0.05.
Conclusion:The nutritional statusamong older adult inpatients withoral changes/unhealth was poorerthan for those withoral health. The food texture of the hospital meal should be improved.
Impact Factor
2022: 6.012
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