Relationship between masticatory function and frailty in community-dwelling Japanese elderly

Abstract

All three masticatory functions (maximum occlusal force, mixing ability, and self-reported chewing ability) were associated with pre-frailty or frailty in community-dwelling Japanese elderly.

A 2‐year longitudinal study of the relationship between masticatory function and progression to frailty or pre‐frailty among community‐dwelling Japanese aged 65 and older

“…Although a cross‐sectional study reported that both grip strength and occlusal force were associated with frailty, no such relationships were observed in the present study. This difference may have resulted from the high ratio (about 70%) of participants whose status changed from robust to pre‐frail in the worsening group (ie, who were in the early stage of frailty progression).…”

“…We previously reported an association between frailty and masticatory function in a cross‐sectional study of 2014 data; however, a causal relationship could not be confirmed because that study was cross‐sectional. Thus, in this study, we evaluated frailty in the same subjects over a 2‐year period and found that masticatory ability was related to the progression of frailty.…”

“…Thus, in this study, we focused on the oral function of mastication. It is reported that masticatory function is associated with pre‐frailty or frailty in community‐dwelling older Japanese individuals . Our hypothesis in this study was that impaired masticatory function causes frailty progression.…”

“…After chewing, the colour of the gum was categorised into one of five grades according to a colour chart . Subjective chewing ability was evaluated based on the response to the question, “How well can you chew now?” Possible responses were as follows: (a) I can chew and eat any food I want to eat; (b) Some foods are not easy to chew, but I can eat most foods; (c) I can eat only limited foods because I cannot chew well; (d) I cannot chew most foods; and (e) I cannot chew at all and I eat blender food . Occlusal force was measured with a pressure‐sensitive film for an occlusal force measurement system (Dental Prescale 50H; GC Corp., Tokyo, Japan).…”

Mastication and oral sensory function in frail edentulous elderly: a case–control study

“…Furthermore, the experimental group obtained larger values of X 50 , which indicates worse MP. Although there are no studies evaluating MP in frail elderly people using the sieving method, our finding is in agreement with the results of Horibe et al ,. who verified that the mixing ability, evaluated by a colour‐changeable gum, was associated with frailty in a community‐dwelling Japanese elderly population.…”