Non-Cochrane · prognostic · PM42067874
A systematic review and meta-analysis of the prevalence and risk factors of oral frailty among older adults.
Li Meng, Wang Yahui, Lei Lingguo, et al. · BMC oral health · 2026 · PubMed · doi:10.1186/s12903-026-08435-y
Findings
Population Older adults aged 60 years or older
26 findings
| Not applicable (prevalence) | Not applicable | Oral frailty (OFI-6 or OFI-8) Country: Japan | Prevalence 24.9 [17.3, 33.4] GRADE not reported 10 studies |
| Not applicable (prevalence) | Not applicable | Oral frailty (OFI-6 or OFI-8) Mean age: >=74 years | Prevalence 29.2 [15.7, 44.9] GRADE not reported 5 studies |
| Not applicable (prevalence) | Not applicable | Oral frailty (OFI-6 or OFI-8) Setting: hospital/clinic | Prevalence 39.4 [31.3, 47.8] GRADE not reported 6 studies |
| Not applicable (prevalence) | Not applicable | Oral frailty (OFI-6 or OFI-8) Instrument: OFI-6 | Prevalence 20.6 [12.1, 30.6] GRADE not reported 8 studies |
| Not applicable (prevalence) | Not applicable | Oral frailty (OFI-6 or OFI-8) Study design: cross-sectional | Prevalence 34.7 [26.3, 43.7] GRADE not reported 13 studies |
| Not applicable (prevalence) | Not applicable | Oral frailty (OFI-6 or OFI-8) Setting: community | Prevalence 27.9 [17.4, 39.8] GRADE not reported 9 studies |
| Not applicable (prevalence) | Not applicable | Oral frailty (OFI-6 or OFI-8) Mean age: <74 years | Prevalence 19.2 [10.6, 29.5] GRADE not reported 4 studies |
| Not applicable (prevalence) | Not applicable | Oral frailty (OFI-6 or OFI-8) Country: China | Prevalence 48.7 [35.2, 62.3] GRADE not reported 5 studies |
| Oral frailty assessed by OFI-6 or OFI-8 | None | Prevalence of oral frailty Univariable meta-regression: Study design: cohort vs cross-sectional | OR (meta-regression) 0.84 [0.65, 1.09] GRADE not reported 15 studies |
| Not applicable (prevalence) | Not applicable | Oral frailty (OFI-6 or OFI-8) | Prevalence 32 [25, 41] GRADE not reported 15 studies |
| Not applicable (prevalence) | Not applicable | Oral frailty (OFI-6 or OFI-8) Publication year: 2023-2025 | Prevalence 43.3 [34.8, 52.0] GRADE not reported 8 studies |
| Not applicable (prevalence) | Not applicable | Oral frailty (OFI-6 or OFI-8) Instrument: OFI-8 | Prevalence 47.6 [37.6, 57.8] GRADE not reported 7 studies |
| Oral frailty assessed by OFI-6 or OFI-8 | None | Prevalence of oral frailty Univariable meta-regression: Setting: hospital/clinic vs community | OR (meta-regression) 1.11 [0.93, 1.33] GRADE not reported 15 studies |
| Not applicable (prevalence) | Not applicable | Oral frailty (OFI-6 or OFI-8) Sample size: >500 | Prevalence 29.1 [19.7, 39.5] GRADE not reported 7 studies |
| Oral frailty assessed by OFI-6 or OFI-8 | None | Prevalence of oral frailty Univariable meta-regression: Country: Japan vs China | OR (meta-regression) 0.80 [0.68, 0.93] GRADE not reported 15 studies |
| Not applicable (prevalence) | Not applicable | Oral frailty (OFI-6 or OFI-8) Publication year: 2022 or earlier | Prevalence 20.6 [14.6, 27.4] GRADE not reported 7 studies |
| Not applicable (prevalence) | Not applicable | Oral frailty (OFI-6 or OFI-8) Sample size: <=500 | Prevalence 35.5 [21.0, 51.5] GRADE not reported 8 studies |
| Oral frailty assessed by OFI-6 or OFI-8 | None | Prevalence of oral frailty Univariable meta-regression: Sample size: <=500 vs >500 | OR (meta-regression) 1.07 [0.89, 1.28] GRADE not reported 15 studies |
| Not applicable (prevalence) | Not applicable | Oral frailty (OFI-6 or OFI-8) Study design: cohort | Prevalence 20.5 [18.7, 22.5] GRADE not reported 2 studies |
| Oral frailty assessed by OFI-6 or OFI-8 | None | Prevalence of oral frailty Univariable meta-regression: Instrument: OFI-6 vs OFI-8 | OR (meta-regression) 0.77 [0.68, 0.87] GRADE not reported 15 studies |
| Oral frailty assessed by OFI-6 or OFI-8 | None | Prevalence of oral frailty Univariable meta-regression: Publication year: 2023-2025 vs 2022 or earlier | OR (meta-regression) 1.24 [1.08, 1.43] GRADE not reported 15 studies |
| Physical frailty (frail) | Non-frail | Oral frailty (OFI-6 or OFI-8) | OR 2.55 [1.41, 4.62] GRADE not reported 4 studies |
| Older age (per 1-year increase) | Per 1-year lower age | Oral frailty (OFI-6 or OFI-8) | OR 1.10 [1.08, 1.11] GRADE not reported 6 studies |
| Fewer than 20 remaining teeth | 20 or more remaining teeth | Oral frailty (OFI-6 or OFI-8) | OR 6.91 [2.27, 21.00] GRADE not reported 3 studies |
| Female sex | Male sex | Oral frailty (OFI-6 or OFI-8) | OR 1.53 [1.22, 1.91] GRADE not reported 2 studies |
| Higher geriatric self-efficacy for oral health (GSEOH, per 1-point increase) | Per 1-point lower GSEOH | Oral frailty (OFI-6 or OFI-8) | OR 0.96 [0.92, 1.00] GRADE not reported 2 studies |
Included primary studies 16
Open in Studies| Study | Year | Also included by | Outcomes it informs here | Trial data |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Komatsu 2021 Association between Physical Frailty Subdomains and Oral Frailty in Community-Dwelling Older Adults. PMID:33809322 | 2021 | 2 other reviews | Prevalence of oral frailty; Oral frailty (OFI-6 or OFI-8) | not extracted yet |
| Luo 2025 Influencing factors of oral frailty in elderly patients with type 2 diabetes in China: a cross-sectional study based on the integral model… DOI:10.1186/s12903-025-05815-8 | 2025 | 2 other reviews | Prevalence of oral frailty; Oral frailty (OFI-6 or OFI-8) | not extracted yet |
| Tian 2025 Analysis of the current status and influencing factors of oral frailty in elderly patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus in Taiyuan, China DOI:10.1186/s12877-025-06052-y | 2025 | 2 other reviews | Prevalence of oral frailty; Oral frailty (OFI-6 or OFI-8) | not extracted yet |
| Hironaka 2020 Association between oral, social, and physical frailty in community-dwelling older adults DOI:10.1016/j.archger.2020.104105 | 2020 | 1 other review | Prevalence of oral frailty; Oral frailty (OFI-6 or OFI-8) | not extracted yet |
| Ishii 2022 Influence of oral health on frailty in patients with type 2 diabetes aged 75 years or older DOI:10.1186/s12877-022-02841-x | 2022 | 1 other review | Prevalence of oral frailty | not extracted yet |
| Iwasaki 2020 A Two-Year Longitudinal Study of the Association between Oral Frailty and Deteriorating Nutritional Status among Community-Dwelling Older… DOI:10.3390/ijerph18010213 | 2020 | 1 other review | Prevalence of oral frailty | not extracted yet |
| Liu 2025 Relationship between dietary diversity and oral frailty in elderly gynecologic tumor patients DOI:10.1097/md.0000000000043298 | 2025 | 1 other review | Prevalence of oral frailty | not extracted yet |
| Nakagawa 2024 Oral frailty, appetite and dietary variety in late‐stage older adults: A cross‐sectional study (the <scp>STudy</scp> of <scp>lAte</scp>… DOI:10.1111/ggi.14892 | 2024 | 1 other review | Prevalence of oral frailty; Oral frailty (OFI-6 or OFI-8) | not extracted yet |
| Wang 2024 Current situation and influencing factors of oral frailty for community-dwelling older adults in the northeastern border areas of China: A… DOI:10.1016/j.gerinurse.2024.08.029 | 2024 | 1 other review | Prevalence of oral frailty; Oral frailty (OFI-6 or OFI-8) | not extracted yet |
| Hoshino 2021 Association between Oral Frailty and Dietary Variety among Community-Dwelling Older Persons: A Cross-Sectional Study DOI:10.1007/s12603-020-1538-6 | 2021 | this review only | Prevalence of oral frailty | not extracted yet |
| Kumar 2023 Assessment of Prosthetic Status and Oral Frailty among The Geriatric Population Residing in Old Age Homes of Bhubaneswar City-a Cross… DOI:10.31584/jhsmr.2023941 | 2023 | this review only | not stated | not extracted yet |
| Nishimoto 2023 Severe Periodontitis Increases the Risk of Oral Frailty: A Six-Year Follow-Up Study from Kashiwa Cohort Study DOI:10.3390/geriatrics8010025 | 2023 | this review only | Prevalence of oral frailty | not extracted yet |
| Ohara 2020 Association of eating alone with oral frailty among community-dwelling older adults in Japan DOI:10.1016/j.archger.2020.104014 | 2020 | this review only | Prevalence of oral frailty | not extracted yet |
| Tamaki 2024 Factors correlated to oral frailty and number of remaining teeth among 80-year-old population in Japan DOI:10.1186/s12877-024-05568-z | 2024 | this review only | Prevalence of oral frailty; Oral frailty (OFI-6 or OFI-8) | not extracted yet |
| Yamamoto 2022 Model to Predict Oral Frailty Based on a Questionnaire: A Cross-Sectional Study DOI:10.3390/ijerph192013244 | 2022 | this review only | Prevalence of oral frailty; Oral frailty (OFI-6 or OFI-8) | not extracted yet |
| Zhang 2025 The symptom network of oral health conditions in older populations with oral frailty: a cross-sectional study DOI:10.1186/s12903-025-05795-9 | 2025 | this review only | Prevalence of oral frailty; Oral frailty (OFI-6 or OFI-8) | not extracted yet |
Overlap with other reviews
Reviews that include the same primary studies are not independent evidence. Shared counts match studies by PMID, DOI or NCT, and otherwise by author and year (a probable match). Only the non-Cochrane dental reviews have study lists, so overlap with Cochrane reviews is not counted yet.
Review question
| Element | Planned (methods) | Found (results) |
|---|---|---|
| Population | Older adults aged >=60 years | Older adults (n=13,030 across 16 studies) |
| Intervention | Oral frailty assessed with OFI-6 or OFI-8 (exposure/risk factors) | Oral frailty by OFI-6 (n=8 studies) or OFI-8 (n=8 studies) |
| Comparison | Not specified | Not specified |
| Outcomes | Prevalence of oral frailty; risk factors of oral frailty | Pooled prevalence (n=15 studies); pooled adjusted ORs for physical frailty (n=4), age (n=6), <20 remaining teeth (n=3), female sex (n=2), GSEOH (n=2) |
| Study designs | Observational studies (cross-sectional or cohort) published in English | 14 cross-sectional and 2 cohort studies; 10 Japan, 5 China, 1 India |
| Timing | Not specified | Not specified |