Rate of oral frailty and oral hypofunction in rural community‐dwelling older Japanese individuals

Abstract

Objective: To clarify the rate of oral frailty and oral hypofunction in rural communitydwelling older adults in Japan. Background: Recently, the oral function of Japanese older adults has been evaluated multilaterally based on two concepts: oral frailty and oral hypofunction. Oral frailty is defined as a decrease in the oral function accompanied by a decrease in mental and physical functions. Oral hypofunction is a disease where the oral function is comprehensively decreased. However, their rates have not yet been elucidated. Materials and methods: Oral frailty and oral hypofunction were evaluated in 679 older adults from rural areas. To investigate the differences in occurrence rates due to the evaluation methods, one of the subordinate symptoms of oral hypofunction, the reduced occlusal force, was evaluated based on both the occlusal force (main method) and the number of teeth (alternative method). Results: The rate of oral frailty was 22.3% in men and 22.7% in women. The rate of oral hypofunction was 39.0% in men and 46.9% in women. The overall rate of oral hypofunction was 43.6% when the reduced occlusal force of oral hypofunction was evaluated using the main method and 46.4% when evaluated using the alternative method. The proportion of participants with decreased occlusal force, the number of present teeth, oral diadochokinesis, tongue pressure and masticatory performance increased with age in both men and women. | 343 KUGIMIYA et Al.

Relationship between Oral Health Status and Bone Mineral Density in Community-Dwelling Elderly Individuals: A Cross-Sectional Study

“…Patients in the Low group had larger number of untreated teeth possibly because they did not visit the dentist regularly. As reported in men, a close relationship was evident between the number of remaining teeth and masticatory function in the women of this study [41,42]. Therefore, when the groups were compared, we found that the target population had pathologies consistent with previous reports, which may increase the validity of this study.…”

Relationship between Oral Hypofunction and Sarcopenia in Community-Dwelling Older Adults: The Otassha Study

“…In our study, the prevalence of oral hypofunction based on diagnostic criteria published by the JSG was 50.5% overall, 40.3% among men, and 54.9% among women. Previous reports have indicated that the prevalence of oral hypofunction among older adults living in different regions of Japan is 43.6–61.6% overall, 39.0–62.6% among men, and 46.9–63.1% among women [ 10 , 39 , 40 , 41 ]. The prevalence of oral hypofunction in our study was within the range previously reported among community-dwelling older adults.…”

Oral hypofunction and its association with frailty in community‐dwelling older people

“…However, little information is known on the current state of oral hypofunction in independent older people based on these evaluation criteria. 14 The association of oral hypofunction or a combination of decreased oral functions with frailty is also not clear. Therefore, it is important to investigate the current status of oral hypofunction in older people and to assess the association between oral function and frailty.…”

“…Examinations to determine oral hypofunction were added as clinical test items in the Japanese public health insurance system during the fiscal year 2018. However, little information is known on the current state of oral hypofunction in independent older people based on these evaluation criteria 14 . The association of oral hypofunction or a combination of decreased oral functions with frailty is also not clear.…”