Abstract
While ideal prosthetics can be achieved for a dental defect, is some care no improvement in diet is observed.
The decrease in desire for consciousness of eating is thought to be a cause of no improve-ment. Thus we devised and tentatively prepared questionnaires, in order to understand and evaluate the desire for and consciousness of eating in aged people.
The questionnaires, which we prepared and clinically applied, were composed of 8 items concerning the desire to eat, 4 items concerning the consciousness, 5 items concerning the oral cavity in relation to the QOL, and 4 items concerning the state of the oral cavity and others.
A total of 122 patients (56 men and 66 women with a mean age of 70.0), visiting our geriatric dental clinic, were asked to fill out the research from for the desire for and conscio-usness meal for 3 days. Many of the patients reported a slightly increased desire to eat and the same consciousness of eating, as compared with their usual states.
Patients with strong desire for consciousness of eating often had highly nutritine food, exceeding the required nutrient intake, whereas those with poor desire and consciousness had less nutrient intake than the required amount. From these results, the questionnaires prepared in this study were thought to be practically useful.
