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Oral health and depressive symptoms: findings from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing

British Dental Journal (2021)Cite this article

Abstract

Aim We assessed the cross-sectional association between depressive symptoms and oral health using a nationally representative sample of older adults aged 50 years and older living in England.

Methods Data came from wave 7 (2014-2015) of the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing. Multiple logistic regression analyses were conducted to assess the association between depressive symptoms, measured through the eight-item Centre for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale and three oral health outcomes, namely self-rated oral health, edentulousness and oral impacts.

Results The analytical sample comprised 3,617 individuals. The proportion of participants that reported poor self-rated oral health, being edentate and having at least one oral health impact in the last six months was 19.8%, 7.7% and 8.9%, respectively. Around a tenth of the participants reported having depressive symptoms (10%). All unadjusted associations between depressive symptoms and the oral health measures were statistically significant. However, after accounting for potential confounders, only the relationship between depressive symptoms and self-rated oral health remained significant (OR = 1.38; 95% CI 1.01-1.89). Socioeconomic and general health-related variables appeared to influence the associations between depressive symptoms and oral health, particularly edentulousness and oral impacts.

Conclusion Depressive symptoms were associated with poor self-rated oral health in older English adults.

Key points

  • Highlights the existing evidence of the relationship between depressive symptoms and oral health measures among older adult populations.

  • Using a nationally representative sample of English adults, this study found a significant association between depressive symptoms and self-rated oral health, even after accounting for a number of key potential factors.

  • Emphasises the need for better integration of oral health into primary care, as well as the need to tackle the broader sociodemographic determinants of (oral) health.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, UCL, 1-19 Torrington Place, WC1E 6BT, London, UK

    Renato Venturelli, Alex Blokland, Cesar de Oliveira, Carolina Machuca & Richard G. Watt

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  1. Renato Venturelli
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  2. Alex Blokland
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  4. Carolina Machuca
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Correspondence to Renato Venturelli.

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Venturelli, R., Blokland, A., de Oliveira, C. et al. Oral health and depressive symptoms: findings from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing. Br Dent J (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41415-021-2603-1

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