Cooking skills modify the association between oral health and mortality

Poor oral health has been linked to an increased risk of mortality. People with good cooking skills may be able to cope with problems caused by oral dysfunction, such as restricted food choice. This study investigated whether cooking skills modified the association between oral health status and mortality. A 3-year follow-up was conducted among participants of the Japan Gerontological Evaluation Study, a population-based cohort study of Japanese adults aged 65-101 years. Oral health assessment comprised number of teeth and three oral functions (awareness of swallowing difficulty, decline in masticatory function, and dry mouth). Cooking skills were assessed using a valid scale adapted for Japanese participants. Mortality from 2016 to 2019 was analysed for 10,121 respondents. Cox regression models were used to estimate hazard ratios for mortality risk adjusting for potential confounders, including sociodemographic factors and health status. During the follow-up, there were 488 deaths (4.8% of all participants). Both fewer teeth and poor oral function were associated with a greater mortality risk. Cooking skills modified the association only for oral function. Stratification by cooking skill score showed that the hazard ratios for ≥2 oral difficulties (vs. none) was 2.06 (95% confidence interval: 1.43-2.96) among those with low cooking skills and 1.25 (95% confidence interval: 0.92-1.71) among those with high cooking skills after adjusting for potential confounders. Improving cooking skills may be key to mitigating health risks owing to poor oral functions.