2026 Volume 20 Issue 2 Pages 15-21
[Objective] From the perspective of nursing care prevention, dental intervention to evaluate the early signs of oral frailty and suppress functional decline is crucial in a super-aging society like Japan.
In order to determine timing for intervention, clarifying in advance the transition of oral functions across a wide range of age groups is critical. This study focused on tongue pressure as an indicator of oral function in healthy adults over a wide range of ages, and examined the utility of hand grip strength as a primary screening method for preventing oral frailty.
[Subjects and Methods] Tongue pressure and hand grip strength were measured in a total of 282 subjects (104 males and 178 females; aged 18 to 64 years) who did not perceive any decline in oral function. Tongue pressure was calculated as the average of three measurements, and hand grip strength was calculated as the average of one measurement on each side.
[Results and Discussion] There were clear gender differences in both tongue pressure and hand grip strength: those of males were much higher than those of females, and a significant positive correlation was observed between tongue pressure and hand grip strength in both male and female groups. There was no significant correlation between tongue pressure and age.
[Conclusion] This study suggests that hand grip strength may reflect tongue pressure regardless of gender or age, and that measurement of hand grip strength may be an effective screening method for tongue pressure measurement.
