Effects of a Community-Based Program for Oral Health and Nutrition on Cost-Effectiveness by Preventing Disability in Japanese Frail Elderly: A Quasi-Experimental Study Using Propensity Score Matching

Impact of Oral Health Interventions on Sarcopenia and Frailty in Older Adults: A Systematic Review

Background/Objectives: Frailty and sarcopenia are geriatric syndromes associated with increased vulnerability to adverse health outcomes, including functional decline, disability, and mortality. Emerging evidence suggests that oral health interventions may play a role in mitigating these conditions. This systematic review aims to evaluate the impact of oral health interventions on frailty and sarcopenia in older adults. Methods: A systematic search was conducted in PubMed, Scopus, and SciELO databases for studies published up to December 2023. Inclusion criteria comprised experimental and quasi-experimental studies assessing dental interventions and their effects on frailty and sarcopenia in individuals aged 60 years and older. The primary outcomes included frailty index, grip strength, walking speed, and functional dentition. Study quality was assessed using GRADEpro. Results: Eight studies were included. Preventive oral hygiene interventions improved oral health but did not significantly impact frailty scores. Oral exercises significantly improved muscle strength and weight, leading to frailty score reductions (-1.1 points, 95% CI: -1.5 to -0.7, p < 0.01). Swallowing therapies were linked to increased grip strength (+1.8 kg, p = 0.03) and walking speed (+0.2 m/s, p = 0.04), with corresponding frailty index reductions (-0.8 points, 95% CI: -1.2 to -0.4, p = 0.01). The certainty of evidence ranged from very low to moderate. Conclusions: Oral health interventions, particularly oral exercises and swallowing therapies, show potential in reducing frailty and sarcopenia-related outcomes in older adults. However, methodological heterogeneity and low-certainty evidence highlight the need for high-quality, large-scale trials with standardized assessment measures to establish definitive clinical recommendations.

Association between the incidence of functional disability and frequency of eating together among older adults living alone: a 6-year follow-up study from the Japan Gerontological Evaluation Study

OBJECTIVE

This study aimed to determine whether the frequency of eating together is associated with the incidence of functional disability in older adults who live alone.

METHODS

This 6-year observational prospective cohort study utilised self-reported questionnaires. Data were drawn from the participants of the Japan Gerontological Evaluation Study project between 2016 and 2022. The participants were independent older adults aged ≥65 years living alone in Japan. The primary outcome was the incidence of functional disability during the follow-up period, with the self-reported frequency of eating together serving as the explanatory variable. Hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) were estimated using Cox proportional hazards models after adjusting for confounders associated with incident functional disability.

RESULTS

Among the 7167 participants, the mean age at baseline was 75.3 ± 6.5 years and 69.2% were female. About, 12.8% of participants (n = 917) developed functional disabilities during the observation period. The incidence rates were 11.7% for 'every day', 11.3% for 'several times a week', 11.5% for 'several times a month', 12.7% for 'several times a year' and 19.0% for 'seldom'. The frequency of eating together 'seldom' was significantly associated with an increased incidence of functional disability (HR: 1.55, 95% CI: 1.10-2.18).

CONCLUSION

Among older adults living alone, infrequent eating together ('seldom') was identified as a risk factor for developing functional disability.

What long-term care interventions have been published between 2010 and 2020? Results of a WHO scoping review identifying long-term care interventions for older people around the world

OBJECTIVE

The global population is rapidly ageing. To tackle the increasing prevalence of older adults' chronic conditions, loss of intrinsic capacity and functional ability, long-term care interventions are required. The study aim was to identify long-term care interventions reported in scientific literature from 2010 to 2020 and categorise them in relation to WHO's public health framework of healthy ageing.

DESIGN

Scoping review conducted on PubMed, CINHAL, Cochrane and Google Advanced targeting studies reporting on long-term care interventions for older and frail adults. An internal validated Excel matrix was used for charting.Setting nursing homes, assisted care homes, long-term care facilities, home, residential houses for the elderly and at the community.

INCLUSION CRITERIA

Studies published in peer-reviewed journals between 1 January 2010 to 1 February 2020 on implemented interventions with outcome measures provided in the settings mentioned above for subjects older than 60 years old in English, Spanish, German, Portuguese or French.

RESULTS

305 studies were included. Fifty clustered interventions were identified and organised into four WHO Healthy Ageing domains and 20 subdomains. All interventions delved from high-income settings; no interventions from low-resource settings were identified. The most frequently reported interventions were multimodal exercise (n=68 reports, person-centred assessment and care plan development (n=22), case management for continuum care (n=16), multicomponent interventions (n=15), psychoeducational interventions for caregivers (n=13) and interventions mitigating cognitive decline (n=13).

CONCLUSION

The identified interventions are diverse overarching multiple settings and areas seeking to prevent, treat and improve loss of functional ability and intrinsic capacity. Interventions from low-resource settings were not identified.

Evaluating the long-term care insurance policy from medical expenses and health security equity perspective: evidence from China

Background

Since the national long-term care (LTCI) policy pilot in 2016 of China, the LTCI policy has had significant impact on the residents in the pilot area.

Methods

From the perspective of medical expenses and health security equity, this study selects tracking survey data from the CHARLS database in 2013, 2015, and 2018 and empirically investigates the effect of LTCI policy pilot by using differences-in-differences method (DID). Moreover, this study measures the economic distribution and health equity of the treated and untreated groups using the concentration and Theil indices.

Results

The results showed that group heterogeneity of medical expenses and health level of elderly in the treatment group were narrowing. Moreover, the policy results showed that the LTCI policy pilot significantly affects the outpatient, hospital expenses, and length of stay of elders. Residence registration, income level, and basic medical insurance play a significant regulatory role. Additionally, LTCI policy pilot significantly improved the overall health of the elderly.

Conclusions

The measurement results of inequality show that the policy increases the income of low-income people, lowers the inequality level of outpatient and inpatient reimbursement, and reduces the concentration index of ADL disability and serious diseases. However, the inequality of serious diseases is becoming higher. Based on this, this paper provides several suggestions on optimizing the pilot policy of LTCI.

The Association between Number of Remaining Teeth and Maintenance of Successful Aging in Japanese Older People: A 9-Year Longitudinal Study

With population aging, an increasing attention has been paid to quality of life rather than mere longevity. Now, it is urgently needed to clarify predictors of well-being in later life, i.e., "successful aging (SA)." The aim of this study is to investigate whether the number of remaining teeth impacts on maintenance of SA among Japanese older people. The present study was conducted in Tsurugaya district, a suburban area of Sendai, in northern Japan, and included older people aged ≥ 70 years who had met the criteria for SA at a 2003 baseline survey. At the baseline survey, dentists obtained data for the number of remaining teeth. We obtained information about Long-term Care Insurance certification, including the dates of incident functional disability and death between 2003 and 2012. Data pertaining to health-related quality of life (HRQOL) were collected at the 2003 baseline survey and the 2012 follow-up survey. Maintenance of SA was defined in terms of survival, disability-free status and high HRQOL in both 2003 and 2012. Among 450 participants, 108 (24.0%) were considered to have maintained a state of SA. When participants were classified into three groups according to previous studies, in comparison with participants who retained 0-9 teeth, the multivariate prevalence ratios (95% confidence intervals) were 1.39 (0.81-2.36) for those who retained 10-19 teeth and 1.58 (1.002-2.50) for those who retained ≥ 20 teeth (p trend = 0.046). The present results suggest that retaining ≥ 20 teeth is associated with maintenance of SA among Japanese older people.

Impact of the Serum Level of Albumin and Self-Assessed Chewing Ability on Mortality, QOL, and ADLs for Community-Dwelling Older Adults at the Age of 85: A 15 Year Follow up Study

Quality of life (QOL) and mortality are true endpoints of epidemiological or medical research, especially for community-dwelling older adults. Nutritional status and activities of daily living (ADLs) are associated with QOL and mortality. Good oral health status supports a good nutritional status. The aim of this study was to elucidate the complex structure of these important health-related factors. We surveyed 354 healthy older adults at the age of 85. Nutritional status was evaluated by the serum level of albumin. QOL, ADLs, self-assessed chewing ability, serum albumin level, and mortality during the 15 year follow up period were analyzed. Self-assessed chewing ability was associated with QOL and ADLs. Self-assessed chewing ability for slight-hard foods was associated with mortality in men. However, it was not associated with the serum albumin level. The serum albumin level was associated with mortality in women. These results indicate that maintaining good oral function is not enough. Nutritional instruction in accordance with oral function is indispensable for health promotion in older adults. When planning health promotion strategies for older adults, different strategies are needed for men and women.

Did expanded access to denture services improve chewing ability in the Korean older population? Results of a regression discontinuity analysis

The Korean National Health Insurance expanded the dental insurance in 2012 to cover denture services for older adults. We analyzed whether the new policy improved of chewing ability in the eligible population. We used regression discontinuity (RD), a quasi-experimental design, to analyze the effects of the expanded dental insurance. We analyzed data from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey conducted in 2010 and 2015. The study population consisted of two groups: the treatment group, aged 65 and above who were eligible; and the control group, under 65 years of age who were not eligible for the dental insurance benefit. The main outcome evaluated was self-reported chewing difficulty. The RD analysis showed that in 2015, the chewing difficulty in aged above 65 was 2.2% lower than in those aged under 65. However, the difference was not statistically significant (P = 0.76). The results from the falsification testing of predetermined covariates, placebo cut-offs, and bandwidths validated our main conclusion. The expansion of dental insurance benefits to include dentures for the older adults did not improve the chewing ability in the eligible population. Future studies should evaluate long-term outcomes of oral health as well as the social impacts on the elderly.

Epidemiologic Research on Healthy Life Expectancy and Proposal for Its Extension: A Revised English Version of Japanese in the Journal of the Japan Medical Association 2019;148(9):1781-4

Healthy life expectancy is an indicator that represents a composite of data on mortality and health status and is defined as the average number of years that a person can expect to live at a certain level of health. To extend people's healthy life expectancy, my colleague and I conducted a variety of epidemiologic research based upon community-based cohort studies and intervention trials. The findings from our prospective cohort studies included blood pressure reference values measured at home, green tea health benefit, Japanese dietary pattern, and feeling ikigai (a sense of life worth living) at daily life. Based upon these evidence, I have made some proposals toward extension of healthy life expectancy. In 2011, as the Chair of the Planning Committee for the Next National Health Promotion of Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare (MHLW), I proposed that the Health Japan 21 (second term) should aim to extend healthy life expectancy to exceed the number of years extended in the total life expectancy, thus compressing the duration to be spent in an unhealthy state (compression of morbidity). In the interim evaluation of the Health Japan 21 (second term) in 2018, we were able to demonstrate that this goal is being achieved. Compared with 2010, in 2016, the increase in healthy life expectancy (1.72 years in men and 1.17 years in women) was higher than that of total life expectancy (1.43 years in men and 0.84 years in women). As a result, the duration to be spent in an unhealthy state was reduced by 0.29 years in men and by 0.33 years in women. It is important to note that Japan is the only country that has made progress in achieving compression of morbidity at the national level. We need to maintain this momentum of compressing morbidity.

Dental Status is Associated With Incident Functional Disability in Community-Dwelling Older Japanese: A Prospective Cohort Study Using Propensity Score Matching

Background

A growing number of epidemiology studies have shown that poor oral health is associated with an increased incidence of functional disability. However, there are few studies in which the confounding bias is adjusted appropriately. In this study, we examined whether dental status is associated with functional disability in elderly Japanese using a 13-year prospective cohort study after elimination of confounding factors with propensity score matching.

Methods

Participants were community-dwelling Japanese aged 70 years or older who lived in the Tsurugaya district of Sendai (n = 838). The number of remaining teeth (over 20 teeth vs 0–19 teeth) was defined as the exposure variable. The outcome was the incidence of functional disability, defined as the first certification of long-term care insurance (LTCI) in Japan. The variables that were used to determine propensity score matching were age, sex, body mass index (BMI), medical history (stroke, hypertension, myocardial infarction, cancer, and diabetes), smoking, alcohol consumption, educational attainment, depression symptoms, cognitive impairment, physical function, social support, and marital status.

Results

As a result of the propensity score matching, 574 participants were selected. Participants with 0–19 teeth were more likely to develop functional disability than those with 20 or more teeth (hazard ratio 1.33; 95% confidence interval, 1.01–1.75).

Conclusions

In this prospective cohort study targeting community-dwelling older adults in Japan, having less than 20 teeth was confirmed to be an independent risk factor for functional disability even after conducting propensity score matching. This study supports previous publications showing that oral health is associated with functional disability.

The Impact of Psychological Distress on Incident Functional Disability in Elderly Japanese: The Ohsaki Cohort 2006 Study

Background: Although psychological distress is known to be a risk factor for death, there are relatively few data on the impact of psychological distress on incident functional disability in older adults. The aim of this study was to examine the impact of psychological distress on incident functional disability in older adults. Methods: We conducted a cohort study of 12,365 disability-free individuals aged ≥65 years who live in Ohsaki City, Japan. In 2006, the level of psychological distress was assessed using the K6 (range: 0⁻24 points). Data on 10-year functional disability were retrieved from the public Long-term Care Insurance database. The multivariate-adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) and population attributable fractions (PAFs) according to the K6 groups (<5, 5⁻9, 10⁻12, and ≥13 points) were estimated. Results: Among 94,636 person-years, incident functional disability occurred in 4533 persons (36.7%). Significantly higher risk was observed in higher K6 score groups. The multiple-adjusted HRs (95% CIs) of incident functional disability were 1.14 (1.06⁻1.22) for 5⁻9 points, 1.28 (1.15⁻1.43) for 10⁻12 points, and 1.62 (1.44⁻1.84) for ≥13 points, in comparison with <5 points (p-trend < 0.001). The PAFs in each of the K6 score groups were 3.0% for 5⁻9 points, 1.7% for 10⁻12 points, and 2.6% for ≥13 points. Conclusions: Even when mild to moderate, psychological distress had a considerable impact on incident functional disability in this cohort.