Oral Health and Incident Depressive Symptoms: JAGES Project Longitudinal Study in Older Japanese

Authors:
Publisher website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Objectives: To determine whether oral health status predicts depressive symptoms in older Japanese people. Design: Longitudinal study. Setting: Twenty‐four municipalities in Japan. Participants: Community‐dwelling individuals aged 65 years and older who responded to mail surveys performed by the Japan Gerontological Evaluation Study in 2010 and 2013 (N = 14,279). Measurements: Depressive symptoms were assessed using the Geriatric Depression Scale ( GDS ). Multiple imputations were used to deal with missing data. After excluding participants with depressive symptoms ( GDS ≥ 5) at baseline, odds ratios ( OR s) and 95% confidence intervals ( CI s) for incident depressive symptoms in 2013 were estimated using logistic regression models. Results: After adjusting for sex, age, educational attainment, equivalized household income, marital status, present illness, exercise, frequency of going out, and visits for dental treatment, the following OR s (95% CI s) were observed in simultaneously added oral health variables: 10–19 teeth ( OR 1.16, 95% CI 0.99–1.37, reference: ≥20 teeth); 1–9 teeth (1.14, 0.94–1.38, reference: ≥20 teeth); no teeth (1.28, 1.03–1.60, reference: ≥20 teeth); more difficulty chewing tough foods now than 6 months ago (1.24, 1.04–1.47); choking when drinking tea or soup (1.02, 0.84–1.23); feelings of thirst (1.17, 0.99–1.40); difficulty eating food (0.98, 0.80–1.21), difficulty speaking clearly (1.19, 0.89–1.60); problems with smiling (1.24, 0.94–1.65); problems with emotional stability (1.32, 0.86–2.04); and problems enjoying oneself around family, friends, or other people (0.86, 0.42–1.78). Conclusion: These findings suggest that having no teeth and oral health problems may play a role in the development or worsening of depressive symptoms.
Funding Information
  • Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology
  • Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (22330172, 22390400, 23243070, 23590786, 23790710, 24390469, 24530698, 24683018, 25253052, 25870573, 25870881, 26285138, 26882010, 15H01972, 15H05059)
  • Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development
  • National Center for Geriatrics and Gerontology (24‐17, 24‐23)
  • Japan Foundation for Aging and Health (J09KF00804)

This publication has 25 references indexed in Scilit: