Association between dentures and the rate of falls in dementia

Figures & data

Table 1 Prevalence of falls among 1,210 elderly with dementia

Falls	n	n (%)	95% CI
Yes	206	17	15.01–19.24
No	1,004	83	80.76–84.99

Abbreviation: CI, confidence interval.

Table 2 Prevalence of falls and associations with sociodemographic factors

	Total	na	n%	95% CI	χ^2	P-value*
Diabetes mellitus
No	993	162	16.3	14.14–18.74	2.07	0.092
Yes	216	44	20.4	15.54–26.24
Heart disease
No	1,114	180	16.2	14.12–18.44	7.78	0.006
Yes	95	26	27.4	19.42–37.08
Hypertension
No	695	109	15.7	13.17–18.57	2.13	0.084
Yes	514	97	18.9	15.72–22.48
Functional test
<20 seconds**	559	76	13.6	11.01–16.69	14.44	0.001
≥20 seconds	389	89	22.9	18.98–27.31
Teeth
No	949	177	18.7	16.3–21.25	8.50	0.002
Yes	256	28	10.9	7.68–15.36
Dentures
No	753	140	18.6	15.97–21.53	3.60	0.034
Yes	451	65	14.4	11.47–17.95
Teeth and dentures
No	535	114	21.31	18.05–24.98	12.46	<0.001
Yes	675	92	13.63	11.25–16.43
Sex differences
Male	438	65	14.8	11.82–18.47	2.32	0.074
Female	772	141	18.3	15.69–21.14
Marital status
Single	665	129	19.4	16.57–22.58	5.75	0.010
Married	543	77	14.2	11.5–17.37
Ethnicity
Malay**	550	73	13.3	10.69–16.36	10.20	0.001
Non-Malay	658	133	20.2	17.32–23.45
Education
No	775	143	18.5	15.88–21.33	2.82	0.054
Yes	430	63	14.7	11.62–18.31

Notes:

* Significant at the 0.05 level using the χ² test

** reference group

a number of subjects who reported at least one fall. Missing data reduced the number of all subjects in some variables.

Abbreviation: CI, confidence interval.

Table 3 Prevalence of falls and associations derived by logistic regression analysis

	B	SE	P-value*	OR	95% CI for OR
					Lower	Upper
Diabetes mellitus	0.245	0.208	0.238	1.28	0.85	1.92
Heart disease	0.654	0.258	0.011	1.92	1.16	3.19
Hypertension	0.147	0.168	0.382	1.16	0.83	1.61
Functional test	0.457	0.215	0.033	1.58	1.04	2.41
Teeth	−0.531	0.230	0.019	0.58	0.37	0.91
Dentures	−0.409	0.177	0.022	0.67	0.47	0.94
Teeth and dentures	−0.423	0.162	0.009	0.66	0.48	0.90
Sex differences	−0.225	0.185	0.225	0.80	0.56	1.15
Educational level	0.046	0.185	0.803	1.05	0.73	1.50
Marital status	−0.104	0.180	0.562	0.90	0.63	1.28
Ethnicity	0.507	0.172	0.003	1.66	1.19	2.33
Age	0.024	0.012	0.041	1.02	1.00	1.05

Notes:

* Significant at the 0.05 level using the logistic regression analysis. Hosmer–Lemeshow test, χ³₈=6.56; P=0.584.

Abbreviations: SE, standard error; OR, odds ratio; CI, confidence interval.