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Relationship between chewing ability and cognitive impairment in the rural elderly
Kim EK, Lee SK, Choi YH, Tanaka M, Hirotsu K, Kim HC, Lee HK, Jung YS et al.. Archives of gerontology and geriatrics, 2017-02-11
Topic: Risk, prevention and care in population studies
Objective Relationship between masticatory function and cognitive impairment had been suggested but still understudied. We investigated the association between chewing ability and cognitive impairment among the elderly living in a rural region. Methods A total of 295 elderly individuals aged ≥70 years in a rural city of Korea participated in a cross-sectional study. Trained nurses conducted interviews and assessed chewing ability using gum that changed color based on chewing performance. Cognitive impairment was assessed using the Mini-Mental State Examination for Dementia Screening (MMSE-DS) of Korean vesrsion. Socio-demographic characteristics, activities of daily living (ADL), Mini-Nutritional Assessment (MNA) were also assessed using questionnaires as potential confounders. Results The mean age of the participants was 81.4 (ranged 70-102) years and 67.8% of them were female. Participants with low chewing ability were significantly older, dependent, and had lower MNA and MMSE-DS scores. The elderly with middle or low chewing ability had significantly higher risk for having cognitive impairment than those with higher chewing ability. Conclusion Our findings suggest that poor chewing ability is associated with cognitive impairment or dementia in the elderly living in rural area.
Key findings
- Results The mean age of the participants was 81.4 (ranged 70-102) years and 67.8% of them were female.
- Participants with low chewing ability were significantly older, dependent, and had lower MNA and MMSE-DS scores.
- The elderly with middle or low chewing ability had significantly higher risk for having cognitive impairment than those with higher chewing ability.
- Conclusion Our findings suggest that poor chewing ability is associated with cognitive impairment or dementia in the elderly living in rural area.
Why it matters
This cross-sectional study looked at whether chewing ability was linked to cognitive impairment in rural elderly people in Korea. It found that poor chewing ability was associated with higher risk of cognitive impairment, but it does not test any treatment or cure.
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Study details
- Study designcross-sectional
- Participants295
- Effect size67.8%
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 52/100
Published in a peer-reviewed journal, and it is a snapshot of people at one point in time. Scored zero for randomised / blinded because the record does not state it.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (Archives of gerontology and geriatrics) |
| Journal's citation record | 1 / 4 | Archives of Gerontology and Geriatrics: journal h-index 132 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29) |
| Study design | 4 / 12 | A snapshot of people at one point in time |
| Strength of evidence | 1 / 5 | Rated “low” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 2 / 5 | 2017 — within 10 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 2 / 4 | 295 participants |
| Effect reported | 2 / 3 | Effect reported as a number, without an interval or test |
| Studied in people | 3 / 3 | Studied in people (participant count stated) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | 4 / 7 | Cited 76 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 2 / 5 | 6.9 citations a year over 11 year(s) since 2017 |
| Impact for its field and year | 3 / 6 | Cited 4.2× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 1 / 6 | Cited by 1 other studies in this library |
| Still being cited | 2 / 4 | Cited 18 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | 3 / 4 | Last-listed author Atsuo Amano: h-index 65 (OpenAlex, whole career) |
| Institution's track record | 1 / 3 | The University of Osaka: institution h-index 1,138 (OpenAlex) |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 2 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 7 institution(s) in 2 countries |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 28214402) |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Total | 52 / 100 | — |
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Read the original
- DOI: 10.1016/j.archger.2017.02.006
- PubMed: 28214402
- Original source →
- Free full text: YUHSpace (Yonsei University Medical Library) →
Full text: free to read — OpenAlex lists this copy as free to read: the link above (checked 6 Feb 1020).
Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. The record's author list ends in “et al.”, so not every author is named. Check the citation against the original before you use it.
APA 7th
Kim, E. K., Lee, S. K., Choi, Y. H., Tanaka, M., Hirotsu, K., Kim, H. C., et al. (2017). Relationship between chewing ability and cognitive impairment in the rural elderly. Archives of gerontology and geriatrics. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.archger.2017.02.006
Vancouver
Kim EK, Lee SK, Choi YH, Tanaka M, Hirotsu K, Kim HC, et al. Relationship between chewing ability and cognitive impairment in the rural elderly. Archives of gerontology and geriatrics. 2017. doi:10.1016/j.archger.2017.02.006. PMID: 28214402.
BibTeX
@article{kim2017-28214402,
author = {Kim, E. K. and Lee, S. K. and Choi, Y. H. and Tanaka, M. and Hirotsu, K. and Kim, H. C. and Lee, H. K. and Jung, Y. S. and others},
title = {{Relationship between chewing ability and cognitive impairment in the rural elderly}},
journal = {Archives of gerontology and geriatrics},
year = {2017},
doi = {10.1016/j.archger.2017.02.006},
pmid = {28214402},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.archger.2017.02.006}
}
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