Impact of Masticatory Performance on Oral Health-Related Quality of Life for Elderly Japanese

Purpose: This study aimed to investigate the association of masticatory performance with oral health-related quality of life in independently living elderly Japanese subjects. Materials and Methods: The study sample consisted of 1,028 independently living people over the age of 60 years. Masticatory performance was determined by the concentration of dissolved glucose obtained from test gummy jellies, which are the standardized food developed for measuring masticatory performance. The short-form Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP-14) and Geriatric Oral Health Assessment Index (GOHAI) were used to measure the impact of oral conditions on oral health-related quality of life. Results: Subjects with lower masticatory performance had significantly higher total OHIP-14 and GOHAI scores (15.0 ± 9.0 and 14.5 ± 9.2, respectively) than their counterparts (10.0 ± 7.5 and 11.3 ± 7.1, respectively) (P .01). Logistic regression analyses showed that after controlling for age, gender, self-perceived general health, satisfaction with financial status, and number of teeth, a higher GOHAI score was significantly related to lower masticatory performance (P = .001; odds ratio: 0.56; 95% CI: 0.40 to 0.79). A higher OHIP-14 score was associated with lower masticatory performance but at a level below statistical significance (P = .096; odds ratio: 0.75; 95% CI: 0.53 to 1.05). Conclusion: It is suggested that masticatory performance is an important factor influencing the quality of life in independently living, relatively healthy elderly Japanese subjects