The Eldermet Project: Dentition, Nutrition & Cognition-Community Versus Long Term Care (LTC) Population

Background: Researchers in UCC, Cork University Hospital and Teagasc have created the ELDERMET project. Researchers are studying the relationship between diet, gut bacteria and health in a large number of elderly ([65 years) Irish subjects. Gut bacteria alteration is increasingly linked to variations in health including obesity and inflammatory conditions. Methods: Data collections were undertaken amongst community, day hospital, long term care & rehabilitation populations in the Eldermet database. Dental status, MMSE and MNA scores, inflammatory markers and haematinics were recorded. Antibiotic usage amongst all groups was catalogued. Results: 264 (58.8 %) females and 185 (41.2 %) males patients at T0. Patients were stratified according to residence category, of which Community (202) Day Hospital (67) Long-stay (117) Rehab (63). The Eldermet dental information was collapsed into three groupings; Completely Dentate (C25 teeth); Partial Edentulism (1–24 natural teeth) Edentulism (no natural teeth). Using Kruskal–Wallis nonparametric ANOVA, looking at the effect of dental condition, we get a significant effect on MMSE (v2 = 35.64, p = 1.819 9 10-8 ) and MNA (v2 = 14.53, p = 6.9887 9 10-4). Running Kruskal–Wallis on bloods showed significant Results; Haemoglobin = (v2 = 5.76, p = 0.056) and WBC = (v2 = 8.11, = 0.0173). Neither folate nor ferritin appeared to be affected by dental condition. The lowest MMSE scores were among edentulous groups (MMSE 0–15:18 patients, MMSE 16–23:41 patients). Antibiotic usage per residence category was highest among community populations, followed by long stay, rehab and day hospital patients. Clostridium Difficile rates were highest among long-stay patients. Conclusions: Dental status appears to impact on the nutritional and cognitive health of patients. Edentulous patients recorded higher white cell counts and lower haemoglobin levels than fully dentate patients. The lowest MMSE scores were recorded amongst the edentulous group. Antibiotic use was highest amongst community participants. Further research is required to qualify these preliminary Results.