Department of Prosthodontics & Oral Rehabilitation, Tokushima University Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Tokushima, Japan.
J Oral Rehabil. 2020 Jan;47(1):61-66. doi: 10.1111/joor.12862. Epub 2019 Aug 7.
No report has yet examined the impact of oral hypofunction on physical frailty in relation to intra-relationships of physical frailty assessment items. The purpose of this study was to verify the potential of a clinical cascade between oral hypofunction and physical frailty, and especially to support the hypothesis that the influence of oral hypofunction on physical frailty is greater than the intra-relationships among elements of physical frailty and that sex differences significantly affect these relationships. The participants were 272 older adults (101 men and 171 women; mean age 75.1 ± 7.5 years). Maximum occlusal force (MOF) and oral dryness (OD), as indicators of oral hypofunction, and grip strength (GS) and walking speed (WS), as indicators of physical frailty, were measured. Mutual relationship of four variables was verified using covariance structure analysis. In men, three paths from MOF to WS and GS and from WS to GS were confirmed, and those from MOF to WS and from WS to GS were found to be significant (P < .01). In women, three paths from MOF to WS and GS and from WS to GS were also confirmed, as with the men, and those from MOF to WS and from MOF to GS were found to be significant (P < .01). Model adaptability was shown to be good for both men and women. The results suggest our hypothesis was verified, and it is expected that the early detection of oral hypofunction, that is MOF, may be important for assessing physical frailty, especially in women.
目前尚无报告研究口腔功能减退与身体虚弱之间的关系，以及身体虚弱评估项目之间的内在关系对身体虚弱的影响。本研究旨在验证口腔功能减退与身体虚弱之间存在临床级联的可能性，特别是支持以下假设，即口腔功能减退对身体虚弱的影响大于身体虚弱各要素之间的内在关系，且性别差异对这些关系有显著影响。研究对象为 272 名老年人（男性 101 名，女性 171 名；平均年龄 75.1±7.5 岁）。使用最大牙合力（MOF）和口腔干燥度（OD）作为口腔功能减退的指标，握力（GS）和步行速度（WS）作为身体虚弱的指标进行测量。采用协方差结构分析验证四个变量之间的相互关系。在男性中，从 MOF 到 WS 和 GS 的三条路径以及从 WS 到 GS 的路径得到了确认，并且从 MOF 到 WS 和从 WS 到 GS 的路径具有显著意义（P<.01）。在女性中，从 MOF 到 WS 和 GS 的三条路径以及从 WS 到 GS 的路径也得到了确认，与男性一样，从 MOF 到 WS 和从 MOF 到 GS 的路径也具有显著意义（P<.01）。结果表明，男女模型的适应性都很好。这些结果表明我们的假设得到了验证，预计口腔功能减退（即 MOF）的早期检测对于评估身体虚弱可能很重要，尤其是对女性而言。
