Objectives
A cross‐sectional study was carried out to investigate the determinants of self‐rated oral health among community‐dwelling older people in Japan.
Methods
The participants were 897 (357 men and 540 women) aged 65 years and over who participated in a comprehensive geriatric health examination, which included an oral examination, a face‐to‐face interview assessing cognitive function, questionnaires regarding depressive symptoms and functional capacity, and a medical examination. The oral examination measured indices of oral health status: number of present teeth, number of functional teeth, occlusal force and amount of resting saliva. Multiple logistic regression analyses were carried out to determine the factors associated with poor self‐rated oral health.
Results
The mean age of the participants was 73.5 ± 5.0 years. The prevalence of poor and rather poor self‐rated oral health was 11.5% and 29.5%, respectively. Multiple logistic regression analyses showed that the number of present teeth (odds ratio [OR] 0.97, 95% confidence intervals [CI] 0.95–0.99), difficulty in mastication (OR 3.20, CI 2.18–4.70), presence of xerostomia (OR 1.43, CI 1.02–2.01), total score on the MoCA‐J (OR 1.06, CI 1.01–1.11), and reduction in frequency of leaving the house (OR 1.64, CI 1.12–2.41) were significantly associated with poor self‐rated oral health.
Conclusions
The present results suggested that self‐rated oral health was a significant factor in oral health status as well as overall well‐being among community‐dwelling older Japanese people. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2015; 15: 755–761.