Association of salivary flow rate with oral function in a sample of community-dwelling older adults in Japan.
OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study was to determine the association of stimulated salivary flow rate with perceived salivary flow and various oral symptoms among a group of independently living elderly persons.


METHODS
The subjects were 351 persons (189 men and 162 women) with a mean age of 66.7 +/- 4.3 years. Stimulated whole saliva was collected with the mastication method. Self-assessed chewing ability and satisfaction with oral function also were evaluated. A multiple logistic regression analysis was used to determine whether an independent variable was statistically significant.


RESULTS
Hyposalivation (< 0.5 mL/min) was significantly associated with gender (odds ratio, 1.67; P < .05). Hyposalivation (odds ratio, 3.40; P <.05) and low perceived salivary flow (odds ratio, 5.35; P <.05) were significantly associated with dissatisfaction with tasting. Low perceived salivary flow was also significantly associated with self-assessed chewing ability (odds ratio, 3.32; P <.01).


CONCLUSIONS
This study suggested that hyposalivation and low perceived salivary flow were related to chewing ability and satisfaction with tasting foods.
Ikebe
Kazunori
K
Department of Removal Prosthodontics, Osaka University Graduate School of Dentistry, Japan. ikebe@dent.osaka-u.ac.jp
Sajima
Hidenori
H
Kobayashi
Sonoe
S
Hata
Kenji
K
Morii
Kentaro
K
Nokubi
Takashi
T
Ettinger
Ronald L
RL
D000368:Aged; D001294:Attitude to Health; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008409:Mastication / Q000502:physiology; D008875:Middle Aged; D009055:Mouth / Q000502:physiology*; D016017:Odds Ratio; D010549:Personal Satisfaction; D012463:Saliva / Q000378:metabolism*; D012636:Secretory Rate / Q000502:physiology; D012649:Self Concept; D012737:Sex Factors; D013060:Speech / Q000502:physiology; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D013649:Taste / Q000502:physiology; D014987:Xerostomia / Q000503:physiopathology