Severity of Dental Caries and its Relationship With Body Mass Index in Older Adults Attending CS Viñani, Tacna - Perú 2024

Abstract

Objective: Determine the relationship between the severity of dental caries and the body mass index of older adults attending CS Viñani, Tacna 2024. Materials and methods: A relational study was carried out, with a non-experimental and crosssectional design. The sample was made up of 122 older adults who attended Centro de Salud Viñani. A sample was used for convenience, considering as inclusion criteria those older adult patients who attend Centro de Salud Viñani and who are older than 60 years old, and who have already signed informed consent. Older adults who present some motor disability were excluded from the study. To evaluate the severity of dental caries, the DMFT index and body mass index are used with the weight and height record in full care. Results: Regarding the severity of dental caries, a DMFT value of 20.69 was obtained, which indicates a high risk of cavities. Regarding body mass index, the majority of participants were overweight (54.1%), followed by obesity (21.3%), thinness (14.8%) and normal weight (9.8%). Regarding the correlation, the value of the Chi-cuadrado test and the Fisher exact test were p < 0.05, which suggests a statistically significant relationship between both variables. Conclusion: There is a relationship between the severity of dental caries and the body mass index in older adults who attend CLAS CS Viñani, Tacna 2024.