Mayumi Hirosaki1,2, Tetsuya Ohira3,4, Kokoro Shirai4, Naoki Kondo5, Jun Aida6,7, Tatsuo Yamamoto8, Kenji Takeuchi9, Katsunori Kondo10,11. 1. Department of Epidemiology, School of Medicine, Fukushima Medical University, Fukushima, Japan. mayumi23gogo@yahoo.co.jp. 2. Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan. mayumi23gogo@yahoo.co.jp. 3. Department of Epidemiology, School of Medicine, Fukushima Medical University, Fukushima, Japan. 4. Department of Public Health, Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka University, Osaka, Japan. 5. School of Public Health, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan. 6. Department of Oral Health Promotion, Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Tokyo, Japan. 7. Division for Regional Community Development, Liaison Center for Innovative Dentistry, Graduate School of Dentistry, Tohoku University, Miyagi, Japan. 8. Department of Disaster Medicine and Dental Sociology, Graduate School of Dentistry, Kanagawa Dental University, Kanagawa, Japan. 9. Department of Preventive Medicine, Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, Aichi, Japan. 10. Department of Social Preventive Medical Sciences, Center for Preventive Medical Sciences, Chiba University, Chiba, Japan. 11. Department of Gerontological Evaluation, Center for Gerontology and Social Science, National Center for Geriatrics and Gerontology, Aichi, Japan.
Abstract
PURPOSE: Oral health has been reported to have an impact on the activities of daily life such as chewing, eating, and laughing, while psychological factors such as depression and loneliness have been reported to affect oral health. Little is known, however, about the association between laughter and oral health in older adults. This study examined the bidirectional association between the frequency of daily laughter and oral health in community-dwelling older Japanese adults. METHODS: Our cross-sectional study employed data from the 2013 Japan Gerontological Evaluation Study's self-reported survey, which included 11,239 male and 12,799 female community-dwelling independent individuals aged 65 years or older. We defined the oral health status by the number of remaining teeth. The association between the self-reported frequency of laughter (almost every day, 1-5 days per week, 1-3 days per month, or almost never) and oral health was examined using logistic regression analysis. RESULTS: The participants with 10 or more teeth were significantly more likely to laugh compared with the edentulous participants, after adjusting for all covariates. Compared with those who almost never laughed, those who laughed 1-5 days per week were significantly less likely to be edentulous. After stratifying by sex, similar results were found only in the men for both analyses. CONCLUSION: There was a significant bidirectional association between frequency of laughter and oral health that was independent of socioeconomic and lifestyle factors among older adults.
PURPOSE: Oral health has been reported to have an impact on the activities of daily life such as chewing, eating, and laughing, while psychological factors such as depression and loneliness have been reported to affect oral health. Little is known, however, about the association between laughter and oral health in older adults. This study examined the bidirectional association between the frequency of daily laughter and oral health in community-dwelling older Japanese adults. METHODS: Our cross-sectional study employed data from the 2013 Japan Gerontological Evaluation Study's self-reported survey, which included 11,239 male and 12,799 female community-dwelling independent individuals aged 65 years or older. We defined the oral health status by the number of remaining teeth. The association between the self-reported frequency of laughter (almost every day, 1-5 days per week, 1-3 days per month, or almost never) and oral health was examined using logistic regression analysis. RESULTS: The participants with 10 or more teeth were significantly more likely to laugh compared with the edentulous participants, after adjusting for all covariates. Compared with those who almost never laughed, those who laughed 1-5 days per week were significantly less likely to be edentulous. After stratifying by sex, similar results were found only in the men for both analyses. CONCLUSION: There was a significant bidirectional association between frequency of laughter and oral health that was independent of socioeconomic and lifestyle factors among older adults.
Entities:
Keywords:
Cross-sectional study; Frequency of laughter; Number of remaining teeth; Older adults
Authors: Daiane C Peruzzo; Bruno B Benatti; Glaucia M B Ambrosano; Getúlio R Nogueira-Filho; Enilson A Sallum; Márcio Z Casati; Francisco H Nociti Journal: J Periodontol Date: 2007-08 Impact factor: 6.993
Authors: Celia F Hybels; Joan M Bennett; Lawrence R Landerman; Jersey Liang; Brenda L Plassman; Bei Wu Journal: Int J Geriatr Psychiatry Date: 2015-05-11 Impact factor: 3.485