SENDAI, Japan: Researchers in Japan have investigated the association between poor dental health and being housebound in the elderly, and found that having fewer teeth and no dentures were associated with future risk of being homebound, especially in people aged 65-74. The findings may have important implications for interventions that promote dental health and denture use to prevent older people from becoming confined to their homes.
The longitudinal cohort study used data of 2,035 men and 2,355 women aged 65 and over who responded to two postal surveys conducted in 2006 and 2010 and were not homebound, defined as leaving their home less than once weekly, at baseline. After the four-year study period, 324 (7.4 per cent) of the respondents were housebound.
With regard to dental status, the researchers found that, overall, participants with fewer teeth were twice as likely to be confined to the house than those with more teeth were. Almost 10 per cent of the homebound respondents had fewer than 20 teeth and no dentures, about 9 per cent had fewer than 20 teeth and dentures, and about 4 per cent had 20 or more teeth.
However, such a significant association between being homebound and dental health was not observed in participants aged 75 and over.
According to the researchers, several possible pathways may link dental health and being bound to one’s home. For example, dental health, including loss of teeth, affects food choice and nutritional intake, conversation, and facial attractiveness. Therefore, poor dental health could negatively influence social activities, leading individuals to isolate themselves from others. Being housebound in itself is a barrier to access to dental care.
The researchers concluded that future intervention studies focused on improving dental health in order to prevent older persons in the Japanese population being homebound are required to verify the findings. They suggested that improving the rate of denture use among older people with fewer teeth could reduce their risk of becoming housebound in the future.
The study, titled “Does poor dental health predict becoming homebound among older Japanese?”, was published online in 30 April in the BMC Oral Health journal.
일본 연구자들이 2006~2010년 우편 설문조사를 통해 65세 이상 남성 2,035명, 여성 2,355명을 대상으로 코호트 연구를 한 결과, 응답자 중 324명(3.7%)이 바깥출입을 하지 않고 있었다. 이들 중 10%가 의치가 없거나 치아가 20개 미만이었다. 9%는 치아가 20개 미만인데 의치를 사용하고 있었고 4%만이 20개 이상의 치아를 갖고 있었다.
연구자들은 일본 인구집단에서 집에만 거주하는 노인들의 삶의 질을 높이기 위해 구강건강 개선에 초점을 맞춘 추적 관찰을 통한 전향적 코호트 연구가 필요하다고 제언했다. 그들은 적은 수의 치아를 가지고 있는 노인들의 의치 사용을 늘리는 것이 집 안에만 고립될 수 있는 위험을 줄일 수 있다고 제안했다.
