2020 年 25 巻 1 号 p. 9-13
The role of mucosal immunity in the defense against pathogens is well established. However, there does not seem to be much research on the relationship between salivary secretory immunoglobulin A (SIgA), activities of daily living (ADL), and cognitive function, particularly among geriatric residents of long-term health care facilities. For this, the cognitive function and SIgA concentrations of 49 residents of such a long-term health care facility in Japan were evaluated across 3mobility groups, namely, the walking (n = 11), wheelchair (n = 19), and bedridden groups (n = 19).
Bedridden residents had lower mini-mental state than examination scores indicative of moderate cognitive impairment and significantly higher SIgA concentrations than the wheelchair and walking groups. We concluded that enhanced dedicated care of the mobile or partially mobile geriatric residents may be an instrument in infection prophylaxis.
