Relationship between mastication and malnutrition in community-dwelling older adults: a meta-analysis.

Purpose: To determine the relationship between mastication and malnutrition in community-dwelling older adults.

Research strategies: To establish the eligibility criteria, the acronym PECOS was used: Population: non-institutionalized older adults; Exposure: older adults with malnutrition; Control: older adults without malnutrition; Outcome: masticatory problems in malnourished older adults; Study types: observational studies.

Selection criteria: It selected studies assessing malnutrition and mastication difficulties in non-institutionalized adults over 60 years old, of both sexes. Mastication and malnutrition were evaluated with questionnaires on self-reported symptoms and clinical and instrumental assessments. There were no restrictions on language, year of publication, or ethnicity.

Data analysis: The included studies were evaluated for methodological quality with the Joanna Briggs Institute tool for cross-sectional studies. For the cross-sectional studies included, the odds ratio (OR) was calculated with 95% confidence intervals.

Results: After searching the databases, 692 references were retrieved, with three studies selected for quantitative and qualitative analysis. The values obtained in the meta-analysis for association show that malnutrition and mastication difficulties were 2.21 times as likely to occur (OR = 2.21; 95%CI = 0.93 - 5.26; I2 = 94%) as individuals without malnutrition (p < 0.001). The assessment of the risk of bias presented a high-risk, a moderate-risk, and a low-risk study. The certainty of evidence was rated very low with the GRADE tool.

Conclusion: Individuals at risk of malnutrition are 2.21 times as likely to have mastication difficulties.