Chronic periodontitis and acute respiratory infections: A nationwide cohort study

Chronic periodontitis (CP) may increase the risk of exacerbation of and hospitalization for respiratory infections. The aim of the present study was to determine whether CP is associated with acute respiratory infections by analyzing a population-based longitudinal database from the National Health Insurance Service—National Sample Cohort. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were conducted to assess the association between CP and acute respiratory infections, including acute nasopharyngitis, acute pharyngitis, acute tonsillitis, acute laryngitis and tracheitis, acute bronchitis, and acute bronchiolitis, while adjusting for the confounding effects of sociodemographic variables (sex, age, household income, and smoking status) and comorbidities (diabetes mellitus). Among 545,416 recruited participants, 98,490 (18.1%) had CP. Multivariate analysis, adjusted for sociodemographic variables and comorbidities, showed that except influenza and pneumonia, total acute respiratory infections (odds ratio (OR), 1.33; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.28–1.38; p < 0.001), acute upper respiratory infections (OR, 1.26; 95% CI, 1.22–1.29; p < 0.001), and acute lower respiratory infections (OR, 1.23; 95% CI, 1.20–1.26; p < 0.001) were significantly associated with CP. The findings of the current cohort study suggest an association between CP and acute respiratory infections. Particularly, CP seems to increase the risk of acute upper and lower respiratory infections.