Effects of oral environment on frailty: particular relevance of tongue pressure

Abstract

Purpose

Oral frailty or the loss of oral functionality can be a symptomatic precursor of overall frailty. Previous studies have suggested that decreased tongue pressure causes a decline in ingesting and swallowing function and poor nutrition. This study investigated what factor(s) contribute to tongue pressure, thereby leading to frailty.

Patients and methods

For the purposes of the present study, 467 residents of Hirosaki city in northern Japan aged≥60 years who completed a questionnaire about frailty and underwent an intraoral assessment, which included number of teeth, presence or absence of periodontitis, tongue pressure, and oral diadochokinesis (ODK) were recruited.

Results

Of the 467 participants with complete data sets, frailty was identified in 13 (7.5%) of 173 males and in 34 (11.6%) of 294 females. Significantly fewer teeth, lower tongue pressure, and a reduced diadochokinetic syllable rate were more prevalent among frail than among healthy residents. Multivariable logistic regression analysis revealed that age, body mass index, number of teeth, and tongue pressure significantly contributed to frailty, whereas ODK did not. Multiple regression analysis showed that tongue pressure was positively associated with muscle index and number of teeth.

Conclusion

The results of the present study suggest that fewer teeth and lower tongue pressure, but not ODK function, are risk factors for developing overall frailty among older residents.

Keywords:

• aging
• low nutrition
• number of teeth
• oral diadochokinesis

Acknowledgments

This study was supported by grants-in-aid for Scientific Research (JP16K11879, JP17K17576) from the Japanese Ministry of Education. The authors specially thank all participants of the study.

Abbreviations

ODK, oral diadochokinesis; BMI, body mass index; CI, confidence interval.

Author Contributions

WK designed the study. AS collected and analyzed data and wrote the manuscript. All other authors have contributed to the interview and oral examination of residents.

All authors contributed to data analysis, drafting or revising the article, gave final approval of the version to be published, and agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work.

Disclosure

The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.