Abstract
BackgroundThis study examined the factors related to intellectual activity in community-dwelling elderly persons.MethodsSelf-administered questionnaires mailed to all people aged ≥65 years in a dormitory suburb in Japan (n = 15,210). The response rate was 72.2%. Analytical subjects (n = 8,910) were those who lived independently and completely answered questions about independent and dependent variables and covariates. Independent variables included psychosocial conditions (i.e., social activities, hobbies, and a sense that life is worth living (ikigai)), oral health (i.e., dental health behaviors and oral function evaluated by chewing difficulties, swallowing difficulties, and oral dryness), and dietary variety measured using the dietary variety score (DVS). A dependent variable was intellectual activity measured using the Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Gerontology Index of Competence. Covariates included age, gender, family structure, pensions, body mass index, alcohol, smoking, medical history, self-rated health, medications, cognitive function, depression, and falling. Logistic regression was used to estimate the odds ratio (OR) for poor intellectual activity.ResultsPoor intellectual activity was reported by 28.9% of the study population. After adjustment for covariates and independent variables, poor intellectual activity was significantly associated with nonparticipation in social activities (OR = 1.90, 95%CI = 1.61–2.24), having neither hobbies nor ikigai (3.13, 2.55–3.84), having neither regular dental visits nor daily brushing (1.70, 1.35–2.14), the poorest oral function (1.61, 1.31–1.98), and the lowest DVS quartile (1.96, 1.70–2.26).ConclusionThese results indicate that psychosocial conditions, oral health, and dietary variety are independently associated with intellectual activity in elderly persons. The factors identified in this study may be used in community health programs for maintaining the intellectual activity ability of the elderly.
Highlights
Functional decline in older adults is a serious problem in countries with increasingly aging populations, because it has an enormous effect on hospitalization, institutionalization, and death and leads to burgeoning cost of nursing care and medical treatment [1,2]
Psychosocial, Oral, Dietary Factors with Intellectual Activity. These results indicate that psychosocial conditions, oral health, and dietary variety are independently associated with intellectual activity in elderly persons
These prior studies have suggested that psychosocial conditions, oral health, and dietary intake have a significant association with intellectual activity, and may well interrelate with each other, a possibility that has yet to be studied
Summary
Functional decline in older adults is a serious problem in countries with increasingly aging populations, because it has an enormous effect on hospitalization, institutionalization, and death and leads to burgeoning cost of nursing care and medical treatment [1,2]. As for the concept of the hierarchical model of functional and behavioral competence, Lawton established a model of competence comprising seven stages in ascending order of complexity: life maintenance, functional health, perception-cognition, physical self-maintenance, instrumental self-maintenance, effectance, and social role [3] Of these stages, complex abilities to cover the last three stages—instrumental self-maintenance (corresponding to instrumental activities of daily living; IADL), effectance (corresponding to intellectual activity), and social role performance—are important for an individual to live a socially independent life, and have been defined as higher-level functional capacity. Functional capacity of the elderly is considered to be affected by psychosocial conditions, such as participation in social activities, hobbies, and a sense that life is worth living (ikigai) [4,11,12], and a recent study has demonstrated a positive association between participation in social activities and oral health status [13]. This study examined the factors related to intellectual activity in community-dwelling elderly persons
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