Variation in nutrient intake with dental status, age and odour perception

OBJECTIVES: Since the proportion of elderly people with an insufficient intake of nutrients is high and many of the elderly have poor odour perception or poor dental state, in this study, the relation between age, odour perception, dental state and nutrient intake is explored. DESIGN: Single centre cross sectional study. SETTING: Independently living elderly were tested at their homes in 4 locations in Belgium, ranging in ages 60-90 y. SUBJECTS: 200 elderly participated in a 7 d food record study, resulting in 119 complete records. INTERVENTIONS: Food quantities were converted to nutrient intake levels. For all people, odour detection threshold was determined of isoamylacetate and dental status was noted. Path analysis was used and the separate effects of age, dental state, odour perception and gender were tested on macronutrient intake and micronutrient intake respectively. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: For all nutrients, no significant correlation was observed between nutrient intake and odour perception, except for energy, water, Fe and niacin (P < 0.05). A significant separate effect of odour perception was observed for water intake (CR = 2.09). Significant separate effects of dental state were observed for animal protein (CR = 2.29), niacine (CR = 2.04) and mono-unsaturated fats (CR = 2.32). CONCLUSIONS: Although odour perception and dental state can not fully explain variability in nutrient intake, our results show that people with poor odour perception have lower nutrient intake levels than people with good odour perception. Dental state may not be a direct cause of poor nutrition but a contribution factor in those elderly who have other risk factors.