Association between oral, social, and physical frailty in community-dwelling older adults

•Associations exist between oral, social, and physical frailty in the older adults.•A decline in sociality was associated with a decline in oral and physical function.•This relationship may be important for establishing the management of oral frailty. Oral frailty (OF) has been shown to be a predictor of disability. Therefore, it is important to be able to identify factors associated with OF in order to prevent long-term dependence. The purpose of this study was to clarify the relationships between OF, social frailty (SF), and physical frailty (PF) in community-dwelling older adults, with the overarching aim of informing the future development of effective measures to prevent frailty. Oral, physical, and social function, nutritional and psychological status, and medical history were examined in 682 community-dwelling individuals (267 men, 415 women) aged ≥ 65 years. Ordinal logistic regression analysis with SF and PF as independent variables was performed with pass analysis to determine the relationship between the different types of frailty. Logistic regression analysis revealed significant associations between OF and decline in social function, physical function, and nutritional status, and an increase in the number of medications used. Path analysis showed that SF was directly related to OF and that OF and SF were directly related to PF. These findings suggest that a decline in social function may directly influence a decline in oral and physical function. The results of this study provide initial evidence, that may guide the future development of measures that aim to prevent and manage OF.