Development of a Predictive Model for Chewing Difficulty Using EuroQol-5 Dimension Among Korean Older Adults

We aimed to develop a predictive model for chewing difficulty using the EuroQol-5 dimension measure (EQ-5D).

We included 6643 individuals aged ≥ 65 years (mean age: 72.6 ± 4.96 years; women: 3761 [56.6%]) who had completed the sixth (2013-2015) and seventh (2016-2018) Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES). The participants were further divided into young-old (65-74 years) and old-old (≥ 75 years) adults. Data from the sixth KNHANES were used to establish an internal validation model (overall, young-old and old-old adult populations were 3472, 2271 and 1201, respectively). Data from the seventh KNHANES were used to establish an external validation model (overall, young-old and old-old adult populations were 3171, 1879 and 1292 participants, respectively). We evaluated chewing difficulty using the EQ-5D (Model 1) and comparative models, subjective oral health status indicators (SOHSI) and objective oral health status indicators (OOHSI).

Compared with SOHSI and OOHSI, EQ-5D showed similar predictive utility for chewing difficulty in both the internal and external validation models.

Effect sizes, quantified using Cohen's d, indicated that EQ-5D parameters had a moderate impact on the prediction accuracy for chewing difficulties.