Upper extremity disabilities in Americans and disparities in periodontal health

Abstract

Objective: To examine the association between upper extremity disability with periodontitis and the severity of periodontitis in adults aged 30 years or above residing in the United States. Methods: Study design was a cross-sectional observational study using the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) data from 2009-2012. Periodontitis severity was classified into mild, moderate and severe. Disability was measured using an activities of daily living (ADL) questionnaire. Multinomial and multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed. Results: Prevalence of upper extremity disability was 33.5% and of periodontitis was 59.2%. Increased odds of having mild and severe periodontitis were found for grasping and dressing difficulty in unadjusted but not adjusted estimates. When periodontitis was classified as a binary outcome, significantly higher odds of having periodontitis was associated with dressing difficulty (adjusting for age) but was not significant in the fully adjusted model. No significant associations were found for eating, lifting and reaching with periodontitis. Conclusion: There were no significant associations between upper extremity disability and periodontitis in this adult sample from NHANES.