Adherence to dental treatment related to chronic diseases in older adults at a peruvian university dental teaching center

Introduction. The presence of chronic diseases in older adults can affect adherence to dental treatment. Therefore, the objective is to determine the association between adherence to dental treatment and the number of chronic diseases in older adults treated at the Special Care Dentistry Service of a Peruvian university dental teaching center. Methodology. Cross-sectional, retrospective study based on clinical records of older adults treated between 2016 and 2019. Stata 17 was used for descriptive, bivariate chi square, and multivariate logistic regression analyses. Results. The population included 1,112 older adults, 21.04% of whom completed comprehensive dental treatment. The bivariate analysis showed no association with the number of chronic diseases, p greater than 0.05, but did show associations with variables such as appointment adherence, time since the last appointment, geographic origin, occupation, sex, and age, p less than 0.01. The adjusted multivariate analysis showed an association with the presence of four or more diseases (PR = 0.93; aPR = 0.76; 95% CI: 0.59-0.98; p < 0.039). Discussion. Low treatment adherence in older adults with multiple diseases is often associated with disability. This issue is exacerbated by sociodemographic and psychological factors such as advanced age, employment, or apathy, as reported in previous studies. Conclusions. Adherence to dental treatment is negatively associated with the presence of multiple chronic diseases, specifically when four or more are recorded, and this relationship is maintained when other factors such as appointment adherence, the time elapsed since the last visit, geographic origin, occupation, sex, and age are considered simultaneously.