Association of edentulism with incident non-communicable diseases among middle-aged and older adults: a population-based cohort study.
4 affiliations
- 1School of Population Medicine and Public Health, Dongcheng District, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College, #9 Dong Dan San Tiao, Beijing, China.
- 2Guangxi Key Laboratory of Oral and Maxillofacial Rehabilitation and Reconstruction & College and Hospital of Stomatology, Guangxi Medical University, Nanning, China.
- 3Department of Periodontics and Oral Medicine, College and Hospital of Stomatology, Guangxi Medical University, 10 Shuangyong Road, Nanning, China. [email protected].
- 4School of Population Medicine and Public Health, Dongcheng District, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College, #9 Dong Dan San Tiao, Beijing, China. [email protected].
Abstract
Background
Edentulism has been associated with multiple non-communicable diseases (NCDs). However, existing evidence from China is largely limited to specific high-risk regions or lacks national representativeness, and large-scale population-based prospective studies remain scarce. This study investigated the association between edentulism and the risk of developing NCDs in middle and older adults from China.Methods
We examined the relationship between edentulism and NCDs in the CHARLS study, a large prospective cohort of 17,708 adults in China. Follow-up started from the baseline survey in 2011 and ended at the 2018 survey, and the primary endpoint was the first diagnosis of any NCD during follow-up. Cox proportional hazards models were used to estimate hazard ratio (HR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) with adjustment for potential confounders.Results
A total of 6,585 participants were included, with a mean follow-up of 6.46 years. Participants with edentulism had a higher risk of NCDs (HR = 1.17, 95% CI: 1.03-1.33), asthma (HR = 2.83, 95% CI: 1.38-5.79), hypertension (HR = 1.21, 95% CI: 1.01-1.45), and cancer (HR = 2.66, 95% CI: 1.46-4.84) than those who had teeth. No statistically significant associations between edentulism and other diseases were found. Stratified analyses showed effect modification by age for asthma and by sex for dyslipidemia.Conclusions
The study from China found that edentulism was associated with NCDs, asthma, hypertension, and cancer, and also with the other cancers category, although this finding was unstable. No significant associations were found between edentulism and other individual NCDs or specific cancer types including breast, reproductive, and gastrointestinal cancer.
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BibTeX
@article{duan2026association,
title = {{Association of edentulism with incident non-communicable diseases among middle-aged and older adults: a population-based cohort study.}},
author = {Chengwei Duan and Weiping Wan and Lufei Wang and Haiqing Liao and Zeni Wu},
journal = {BMC oral health},
year = {2026},
month = jul,
doi = {10.1186/s12903-026-09412-1},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42897567},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Association of edentulism with incident non-communicable diseases among middle-aged and older adults: a population-based cohort study.
AU - Chengwei Duan
AU - Weiping Wan
AU - Lufei Wang
AU - Haiqing Liao
AU - Zeni Wu
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/07/01
JO - BMC oral health
DO - 10.1186/s12903-026-09412-1
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42897567
AB - Background Edentulism has been associated with multiple non-communicable diseases (NCDs). However, existing evidence from China is largely limited to specific high-risk regions or lacks national representativeness, and large-scale population-based prospective studies remain scarce. This study investigated the association between edentulism and the risk of developing NCDs in middle and older adults from China.Methods We examined the relationship between edentulism and NCDs in the CHARLS study, a large prospective cohort of 17,708 adults in China. Follow-up started from the baseline survey in 2011 and ended at the 2018 survey, and the primary endpoint was the first diagnosis of any NCD during follow-up. Cox proportional hazards models were used to estimate hazard ratio (HR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) with adjustment for potential confounders.Results A total of 6,585 participants were included, with a mean follow-up of 6.46 years. Participants with edentulism had a higher risk of NCDs (HR = 1.17, 95% CI: 1.03-1.33), asthma (HR = 2.83, 95% CI: 1.38-5.79), hypertension (HR = 1.21, 95% CI: 1.01-1.45), and cancer (HR = 2.66, 95% CI: 1.46-4.84) than those who had teeth. No statistically significant associations between edentulism and other diseases were found. Stratified analyses showed effect modification by age for asthma and by sex for dyslipidemia.Conclusions The study from China found that edentulism was associated with NCDs, asthma, hypertension, and cancer, and also with the other cancers category, although this finding was unstable. No significant associations were found between edentulism and other individual NCDs or specific cancer types including breast, reproductive, and gastrointestinal cancer.
SN - 1472-6831
ER -