title: Longitudinal study of factors affecting taste sense decline in old-old individuals.
abstract: The sense of taste plays a pivotal role for personal assessment of the nutritional value, safety and quality of foods. Although it is commonly recognised that taste sensitivity decreases with age, alterations in that sensitivity over time in an old-old population have not been previously reported. Furthermore, no known studies utilised comprehensive variables regarding taste changes and related factors for assessments. Here, we report novel findings from a 3-year longitudinal study model aimed to elucidate taste sensitivity decline and its related factors in old-old individuals. We utilised 621 subjects aged 79-81 years who participated in the Septuagenarians, Octogenarians, Nonagenarians Investigation with Centenarians Study for baseline assessments performed in 2011 and 2012, and then conducted follow-up assessments 3 years later in 328 of those. Assessment of general health, an oral examination and determination of taste sensitivity were performed for each. We also evaluated cognitive function using Montreal Cognitive Assessment findings, then excluded from analysis those with a score lower than 20 in order to secure the validity and reliability of the subjects' answers. Contributing variables were selected using univariate analysis, then analysed with multivariate logistic regression analysis. We found that males showed significantly greater declines in taste sensitivity for sweet and sour tastes than females. Additionally, subjects with lower cognitive scores showed a significantly greater taste decrease for salty in multivariate analysis. In conclusion, our longitudinal study revealed that gender and cognitive status are major factors affecting taste sensitivity in geriatric individuals.
authors.affiliation: Department of Prosthodontics, Gerodontology and Oral Rehabilitation, Osaka University Graduate School of Dentistry, Suita, Osaka, Japan.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ogawa
authors.affiliation: Department of Prosthodontics, Gerodontology and Oral Rehabilitation, Osaka University Graduate School of Dentistry, Suita, Osaka, Japan.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Uota
authors.affiliation: Department of Prosthodontics, Gerodontology and Oral Rehabilitation, Osaka University Graduate School of Dentistry, Suita, Osaka, Japan.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ikebe
authors.affiliation: Division of Geriatric Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Keio University School of Medicine, Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Arai
authors.affiliation: Department of Geriatric Medicine and Nephrology, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Suita, Osaka, Japan.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kamide
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Thanatology and Geriatric Behavioral Science, Osaka University Graduate School of Human Sciences, Suita, Osaka, Japan.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Gondo
authors.affiliation: Tokyo Metropolitan Geriatric Hospital and Institute of Gerontology, Itabashi, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Masui
authors.affiliation: Tokyo Metropolitan Geriatric Hospital and Institute of Gerontology, Itabashi, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ishizaki
authors.affiliation: Department of Prosthodontics, Gerodontology and Oral Rehabilitation, Osaka University Graduate School of Dentistry, Suita, Osaka, Japan.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Inomata
authors.affiliation: Department of Prosthodontics, Gerodontology and Oral Rehabilitation, Osaka University Graduate School of Dentistry, Suita, Osaka, Japan.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Takeshita
authors.affiliation: Department of Prosthodontics, Gerodontology and Oral Rehabilitation, Osaka University Graduate School of Dentistry, Suita, Osaka, Japan.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Mihara
authors.affiliation: Department of Prosthodontics, Gerodontology and Oral Rehabilitation, Osaka University Graduate School of Dentistry, Suita, Osaka, Japan.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hatta
authors.affiliation: Department of Prosthodontics, Gerodontology and Oral Rehabilitation, Osaka University Graduate School of Dentistry, Suita, Osaka, Japan.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Maeda
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D060825:Cognitive Dysfunction / Q000503:physiopathology*; D004032:Diet; D005247:Feeding Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005518:Food Preferences; D016330:Frail Elderly; D015577:Geriatric Assessment; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D015596:Nutrition Assessment; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013649:Taste / Q000502:physiology*; D055697:Taste Perception / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: cognitive function; longitudinal study; multivariate analysis; old-old; taste decline; taste threshold