Nutritional status and body composition in cognitively impaired older persons living alone: The Takashimadaira study

Abstract

Objectives To investigate nutritional status and body composition in cognitively impaired older persons living alone. Methods This cross-sectional study included 1051 older adults (633 women and 418 men, mean age: 77.1 years) from the Takashimadaira study. The study participants were categorized according to whether they lived alone, which was confirmed via questionnaire, and had cognitive impairment, which was defined as having a Mini Mental State Examination-Japanese score ≤23. Nutritional status was evaluated using the serum albumin level. The fat-free mass index (FFMI) was calculated based on anthropometric and body composition measurements. A logistic regression model with the outcome of a low serum albumin level (serum albumin <4 g/dL) and low FFMI (<16 kg/m2 in men and <14 kg/m2 in women) were used to analyze the data. Results The percentages of participants in the living alone (-)/cognitive impairment (-) group, the living alone (+)/cognitive impairment (-) group, the living alone (-)/cognitive impairment (+) group, and the living alone (+)/cognitive impairment (+) group were 54.8%, 37.3%, 5.6%, and 2.3%, respectively. Compared to the living alone (-)/cognitive impairment (-) group, the living alone (+)/cognitive impairment (+) group was more likely to have a low serum albumin level (adjusted odds ratio = 3.10, 95% confidence interval = 1.31 to 7.33) and low FFMI (adjusted odds ratio = 2.79, 95% confidence interval = 1.10 to 7.06) after adjusting for potential confounders. Conclusion Cognitively impaired older adults living alone had poorer nutrition than cognitively normal and cohabitating persons in this study. Our results highlight the importance of paying extra attention to nutritional status for this group of community-dwelling older adults.

Relationship between Occlusal Vertical Dimension and Tongue Pressure in Complete Denture Wearers

“…study, the tongue pressure did not change significantly and maintained the normal values (21) when VDO was lowered from MCP. In contrast, the tongue pressure was lower than the reference values when VDO was raised more than 6 mm from MCP.…”

“…The critical value of 6 mm from MCP may be shorter than that sreported previously (8) on using a maxillary splint to raise the VDO in dentate subjects. This difference may be attributable to older adults having lower tongue pressure than younger adults (15,21) . The tongue may retain greater contact with the palate in younger adults even if the VDO is raised.…”

“…The average age of the study subjects was in the late 70s. Tongue pressure declines with age (15,21) . The critical value of VDO raised in relation to MCP may decrease as the age increases.…”

“…Thus, future studies should enroll subjects from a broader age spectrum. In addition, sexrelated differences were demonstrated, and women tended to show lower tongue pressure values (21) , indicating that sufficient sample size is required for subgroup analysis. The apparatus used in this study was highly experimental.…”

Chronic Status of Serum Albumin and Cognitive Function: A Retrospective Cohort Study

“…A dose-response association between serum albumin and cognitive performance has also been suggested [21,24,26]. The living alone (+)/cognitive impairment (+) group was more likely to have a lower serum albumin level [27]. Nonetheless, the results of this association are inconsistent [28,29].…”