title: Relationship between tongue strength and 1-year life expectancy in elderly people needing nursing care.
abstract: Tongue strength is a useful indicator of oral function and has been found to decrease with aging and reduced physical functioning. The present study aimed to assess the relationships of tongue strength with physical function, mental function, and nutritional status, and also between these factors and 1-year outcomes, to determine whether tongue strength is related to life expectancy in elderly people needing nursing care. The subjects were 140 elderly individuals requiring needing nursing care (49 men and 91 women; ≥65 years). The investigated items included sex, age, activities of daily living (ADL), comorbidity, cognitive function, nutritional status, eating function, occlusal support, and tongue strength. Furthermore, a follow-up study was conducted 1 year later, and factors related to death were identified. The mean tongue strength of the total 140 subjects was 20.3 ± 8.6 kPa. Tongue strength was assessed relative to each of the investigated items, using the t test and one-way analysis of variance. Tongue strength was significantly related to ADL, comorbidity, cognitive function, calf circumference, food intake, and occlusal support. Fifteen subjects were found to have died at the 1-year follow-up study. We assessed the relationships of 1-year outcomes with each of the factors examined, and 1-year outcomes were found to be significantly related to ADL and tongue strength.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Oral Rehabilitation, The Nippon Dental University School of Life Dentistry at Tokyo, 1-9-20 Fujimi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, 102-8159, Japan.
authors.forename: Yuri
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yajima
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Oral Rehabilitation, The Nippon Dental University School of Life Dentistry at Tokyo, 1-9-20 Fujimi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, 102-8159, Japan. kikutani@tokyo.ndu.ac.jp.|Department of Rehabilitation for Speech and Swallowing Disorders, Tama Oral Rehabilitation Clinic, The Nippon Dental University School of Life Dentistry at Tokyo, 4-44-19, Koganei, Tokyo, 184-0011, Japan. kikutani@tokyo.ndu.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Takeshi
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3815-5545
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kikutani
authors.affiliation: Department of Rehabilitation for Speech and Swallowing Disorders, Tama Oral Rehabilitation Clinic, The Nippon Dental University School of Life Dentistry at Tokyo, 4-44-19, Koganei, Tokyo, 184-0011, Japan.
authors.forename: Fumiyo
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Tamura
authors.affiliation: Department of Advanced Prosthodontics, Hiroshima University Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, 1-2-3 Kasumi, Minami-ku, Hiroshima, 734-8553, Japan.
authors.forename: Mitsuyoshi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yoshida
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology; D015897:Comorbidity; D005260:Female; D006701:Home Nursing; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D008017:Life Expectancy; D008297:Male; D009752:Nutritional Status; D011446:Prospective Studies; D014059:Tongue / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: Elderly; Life expectancy; Tongue strength