Prevalence of Comorbidities in Periodontitis Patients Compared to the General Austrian Population.

BACKGROUND

To analyze the prevalence and impact of comorbidities in patients with periodontitis in Austria.

METHODS

The prevalence of comorbidities was evaluated in 1199 patients with periodontitis (median age: 49, range: 14-83 years). These data were compared to an age and sex matched randomly selected cohort of the Austrian population by an unconditional logistic regression model.

RESULTS

Comorbidities were found in 821/1199=68.5% patients. Allergies had the highest prevalence (29.2%), followed by hypertension (19.4%), musculoskeletal (11.2%), and endocrine disorders (9.7%). Chronic pulmonary disorders (no influenza/pneumonia) were associated with a higher approximal plaque-index (72% versus 63%, p=0.02). No association between characteristics of periodontitis and comorbidities was observed. The prevalence of allergies (29.2% vs. 22.9%) and pulmonary disorders (8.5% vs 4.3%) was significantly higher in periodontitis patients compared to the Austrian population (p<0.001), whereas asthma (1.5% vs. 5.6%), cardiovascular disorders (1.8% vs. 10.5%), depression (7.1% vs. 10.4%), headache (1.3% vs. 20%), hyperlipidemia (6.4% vs. 14.8%), hypertension (14.2% vs. 24.5%), musculoskeletal disorders (11.2% vs. 41.7%), and osteoporosis (2.8% vs. 5.1%) were found less frequently (p<0.001). No differences were observed for cancer, diabetes-mellitus, gastrointestinal disorders and psychiatric disorders (p=0.95, p=0.76, p=0.68, p=0.23, respectively).

CONCLUSIONS

In Austria the majority of patients with periodontitis present with comorbidities and the adjusted prevalence differs significantly from the general population.