Table 3.
Oral health status by appetitea
| Variables | Total population (N = 542) |
Good appetiteb (N = 340) | Poor appetiteb (N = 202) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| n | % | n | % | p value | |||
| Number of natural teeth (mean ± S.D.) | 15.8 ± 9.3 | 16.1 ± 9.4 | 15.4 ± 9.2 | 0.39 | |||
| Total FTU (mean ± S.D.) | 7.7 ± 3.7 | 7.7 ± 3.8 | 7.7 ± 3.6 | 0.98 | |||
| Has < 20 natural teeth | 301 | (55.5) | 181 | (53.2) | 120 | (59.4) | 0.162 |
| Denture wearing status | |||||||
| Full denture (mandibular + maxillary) | 71 | (13.1) | 45 | (13.2) | 26 | (12.9) | |
| Single full denture and/or partial denture | 238 | (43.9) | 134 | (39.4) | 104 | (51.5) | 0.02 |
| No denture | 233 | (43.0) | 161 | (47.4) | 72 | (35.6) | |
| Limited chewing capacity c | 152 | (28.0) | 82 | (24.1) | 70 | (34.7) | 0.01 |
| Swallowing difficulty (Occasionally/Fairly often/Very often) | 65 | (12.0) | 41 | (12.1) | 24 | (11.9) | 0.95 |
| Mouth dryness (Dry: no droplet within 30 s) | 346 | (63.8) | 204 | (60.0) | 142 | (70.3) | 0.02 |
| Self-evaluated oral health (Fair/Poor) | 151 | (27.9) | 80 | (23.5) | 71 | (35.1) | < 0.01 |
a Appetite was assessed by applying the question: how would you describe your appetite? The response options were: 'very good', 'good', 'average', 'poor', or 'very poor'
b Good appetite was defined as very good or good. Poor appetite was defined as average, poor, and very poor
c Chewing capacity were evaluated by asking “Are you currently able to chew?” for 11 food items. The participants who answered "yes" to 10 - 11 food items were classified as "no problem", or otherwise classified as "limited"