Association between oral food processing ability and nutritional status of older adults based on factor analysis

The potential association between oral food processing ability and nutritional status in the older adults aged 75 years and above has been poorly investigated. Thus, this study is based on factor analysis to explore the relationship between the two aspects of older adults with different genders.

The nutritional status was assessed by the Short-form Mini-Nutritional Assessment and body composition measurement. Oral food processing ability was evaluated by subjective questionnaires (10-item Eating Assessment Tool and Chewing Function Questionnaire) and specific objective experiments for the detection of bite force, tongue pressure, lip sealing pressure, swallowing function, taste, and salivation. The dimensionality of the collected data was reduced through factor analysis, and we performed both descriptive and differential analyses of the resulting factors. Correlation and regression analysis were carried out to uncover the potential connections between oral food processing ability and nutritional status in older adults.

Five factors extracted are salivary secretion, masticatory level, food guiding, taste function, and swallowing ability. The masticatory level and food guiding factor are significantly associated with malnutrition in an L-shaped dose-response relationship after adjustment for potential confounding factors. With the improvement of the masticatory level and food guiding, the risk of malnutrition decreases rapidly within the low-level range. Once the ability reaches a certain threshold, the risk of malnutrition tends to stabilize. Elevated taste thresholds and impaired swallowing function are positively correlated with the occurrence of malnutrition. Moreover, the masticatory level is the more important influencing factor in the elderly male group. In females, the impact of the other three factors (food guiding, taste function, and swallowing ability) on nutritional status is worth further exploring.

The main related factors for nutritional status among older adults include chewing, food guiding, taste, and swallowing function, but there are significant differences between males and females. Formulating oral health care measures based on different genders has important implications for reducing the risk of malnutrition.