title: Does poor dental health predict becoming homebound among older Japanese?
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Being homebound is an important risk factor of functional disability in older people. There is a possibility of bidirectional relationship between homeboundness and dental health. This prospective cohort study examined the association of dental health, which includes social function, on homeboundness in the future.
  
  
  METHODS
  The participants were ≥ 65 years, responded to two postal surveys conducted in 2006 and 2010, and were not homebound at baseline. Logistic regression analysis was used to estimate the odds ratios for homeboundness, defined as going out of one's home less than once weekly. Self-reported baseline dental status was used as the main predictor. Age, sex, marital status, educational attainment, income, comorbidity, depression, walking time, living alone, and area of residence were used as covariates.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Among 4390 non-homebound respondents, 7.4 % were homebound four years later. The proportions of homebound respondents with < 20 teeth without dentures, < 20 teeth with dentures, and ≥ 20 teeth were 9.7, 8.8, and 4.4 %, respectively. The odds for being homebound in the 65-74-year age group, adjusted for covariates, was 1.78 (95 % CI: 1.01-3.13; p < 0.05) times higher for respondents with < 20 teeth and no dentures than that for respondents with ≥ 20 teeth. Among the participants in the ≥ 75-year age group, a significant association of homeboundness and dental health was not observed.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Among the young-old population, poor dental health predicted future onset of homeboundness, while depressive symptoms did not show any significant association.
authors.affiliation: Department of International and Community Oral Health, Tohoku University Graduate School of Dentistry, Sendai City, Miyagi, Japan. shihoko-koyama@umin.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Shihoko
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Koyama
authors.affiliation: Department of International and Community Oral Health, Tohoku University Graduate School of Dentistry, Sendai City, Miyagi, Japan.
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Aida
authors.affiliation: Center for Preventive Medical Sciences, Chiba University, Chiba City, Chiba, Japan.|Department of Gerontological Evaluation, Center for Gerontology and Social Science, National Center for Geriatrics and Gerontology, Obu City, Aichi, Japan.
authors.forename: Katsunori
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kondo
authors.affiliation: Division of Dental Sociology, Department of Oral Science, Graduate School of Dentistry, Kanagawa Dental University, Yokosuka City, Kanagawa, Japan.
authors.forename: Tatsuo
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yamamoto
authors.affiliation: Department of Social Welfare, Nihon Fukushi University, Nagoya City, Aichi, Japan.
authors.forename: Masashige
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Saito
authors.affiliation: Doctoral Institute for Evidence Based Policy, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Rika
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ohtsuka
authors.affiliation: Department of Health and Nutrition, Faculty of Health and Nutrition, Tokaigakuen University, Nagoya City, Aichi, Japan.
authors.forename: Miyo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nakade
authors.affiliation: Department of International and Community Oral Health, Tohoku University Graduate School of Dentistry, Sendai City, Miyagi, Japan.
authors.forename: Ken
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Osaka
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D018577:Homebound Persons; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009909:Oral Health; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014070:Tooth
keywords: Community dentistry; Dental public health; Epidemiology; Homebound