title: Association of chewing ability with cardiovascular disease mortality in the 80-year-old Japanese population.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Few have studied the association between chewing ability and longevity.
  
  
  METHODS
  In this prospective study, we analyzed 697 80-year-old participants residing in Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. Chewing ability was assessed on the basis of the types of food that each participant reported being able to chew.
  
  
  RESULTS
  During follow-up, 108 participants died. Patients reporting the lowest numbers of chewable foods were associated with higher risks of cardiovascular mortality than those who were able to chew all the types of food surveyed (multivariate hazard ratio: 4.60; 95% confidence interval: 1.01-21.1).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Impaired dentition status with poor masticatory ability was an independent risk factor for cardiovascular mortality in active elderly individuals.
authors.affiliation: Division of Community Oral Health Science, Department of Health Promotion, Kyushu Dental College, Kitakyushu, Japan. ansai@kyu-dent.ac.jp
authors.forename: Toshihiro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ansai
authors.forename: Yutaka
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Takata
authors.forename: Inho
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Soh
authors.forename: Akihiro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Yoshida
authors.forename: Tomoko
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hamasaki
authors.forename: Shuji
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Awano
authors.forename: Kazuo
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sonoki
authors.forename: Sumio
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Akifusa
authors.forename: Masayo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fukuhara
authors.forename: Akira
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sogame
authors.forename: Naoko
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Shimada
authors.forename: Tadamichi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Takehara
mesh_terms: D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000401:mortality*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008409:Mastication / Q000502:physiology*; D011159:Population Surveillance; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D018570:Risk Assessment; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires