Sung Pildoo, Zhang Yanan, Choi Ji-Young
Department of Sociology, Hanyang University, Seoul, South Korea.
Oxford Institute of Population Ageing, University of Oxford, Oxford, England.
Int J Geriatr Psychiatry. 2025 May;40(5):e70085. doi: 10.1002/gps.70085.
The reciprocal relationship between oral health and mental health, and the underlying mechanisms remain underexplored. This study examined whether formal social engagement mediates the relationship between oral health and mental health in both directions.
Cross-lagged panel models with two-wave mediation were applied to data from 3860 older adults, aged 65 years or above, in the two waves of the Korean Longitudinal Study of Aging conducted in 2018 and 2020. Oral health was measured using the 12-item Geriatric Oral Health Assessment Index, and mental health was assessed with the 10-item Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale.
The analysis identified a reciprocal relationship between oral health and depressive symptoms, with depressive symptoms exerting a stronger effect on oral health than vice versa. Formal social engagement partially mediated the effect of oral health on depressive symptoms, but not the other way around.
The findings reaffirm the interplay and interdependence of oral health and mental health among older adults. Comprehensive strategies that integrate social engagement opportunities are imperative for developing interventions targeting older adults with compromised oral health.
口腔健康与心理健康之间的相互关系及其潜在机制仍未得到充分探索。本研究考察了正式社交活动是否在两个方向上介导了口腔健康与心理健康之间的关系。
采用两波中介的交叉滞后面板模型，对2018年和2020年进行的韩国老年纵向研究两波中3860名65岁及以上老年人的数据进行分析。使用12项老年口腔健康评估指数测量口腔健康状况，并用10项流行病学研究中心抑郁量表评估心理健康状况。
分析确定了口腔健康与抑郁症状之间的相互关系，抑郁症状对口腔健康的影响比反之更强。正式社交活动部分介导了口腔健康对抑郁症状的影响，但反之则不然。
研究结果再次证实了老年人口腔健康与心理健康之间的相互作用和相互依存关系。整合社交活动机会的综合策略对于制定针对口腔健康受损老年人的干预措施至关重要。
