A Survey of Oral Hypofunction and Food Intake of Patients Visiting a Dental Outpatient Clinic

Abstract

　Purpose：This study sought to examine the prevalence of oral hypofunction among outpatients in dental clinics and further characterize their energy/nutrient intake and living/health condition.

　Method：The participants included 128 patients（45 males and 83 females）aged 65 and over who visited a dental clinic. Three surveys were conducted. The first survey included seven diagnostic criteria for oral hypofunction（oral hygiene, oral moistness, occlusal force, tongue and lip movement function, tongue pressure, masticatory function, and swallowing function）. The second was a dietary survey conducted using a brief self-administered diet-history questionnaire, and the third was a life and physical and mental health survey conducted using the Kihon Checklist.

　Results：Of the 128 patients, 73（57%）had oral hypofunction（applicable group）and 55（43%）did not（non-applicable group）. The dietary survey showed that the values of seasonings and spices per 1,000 kcal were significantly higher in the applicable group than in the non-applicable group（p=0.042）. In addition, the life and physical and mental health survey, which examined the relationship between oral hypofunction and KCL, showed that a significantly higher percentage of the patients in the applicable group had fewer outings this year than in the previous year（p=0.046）. The results suggest that oral hypofunction, food intake, and frequency of outings are interrelated among outpatients in dental clinics.