Abstract
The purpose of this research was to clarify the relation between oral frailty, nutrition and cognitive factors in community-dwelling elderly persons (N =184, male = 74, female = 110). Oral frailty (oral frailty screening questionnaire), a chewing questionnaire and swallowing screening (EAT) were t-tested for food diversity, nutritional status, MMSE, and attention-execution cognitive function tests (Stroop, D-CAT tests), which are associated with nutritional decline. Regarding chewing, those persons who answered “Yes” to the question “Is chewing squid the same hardness as takuan (pickled radish)?” were significantly higher in the D-CAT test, and their tongue pressure was also higher (p = .036, p = .022). In addition, those who answered “Yes” to “Can you chew something as hard as a carrot?” were significantly less likely to have swallowing screening (EAT) and had a lower risk of swallowing function (p = .043). Tongue pressure related to chewing and swallowing functions was significantly correlated with age, BMI, and grip strength (r = –.278, r = .279, r = .292). Those with less difficulty in swallowing function had significantly better results in the D-CAT test (r = –.240). Grip strength, tongue pressure, serum albumin, and serum hemoglobin were significantly higher in those with a BMI of 21.0 or higher (p = .021, p = .001, p = .023, p = .025). Therefore, the tongue pressure value was suggested as an index for chewing and swallowing and as an indicator of early malnutrition prevention.
