TY - JOUR
T1 - Examining the associations between oral health and social isolation
T2 - A cross-national comparative study between Japan and England
AU - Koyama, Shihoko
AU - Saito, Masashige
AU - Cable, Noriko
AU - Ikeda, Takaaki
AU - Tsuji, Taishi
AU - Noguchi, Taiji
AU - Abbas, Hazem
AU - Miyashiro, Isao
AU - Osaka, Ken
AU - Kondo, Katsunori
AU - Watt, Richard G.
AU - Aida, Jun
N1 - Funding Information:
The study was supported by JSPS ( Japan Society for the Promotion of Science ) KAKENHI Grant Number ( JP18K17107 , 18KK0057 , 19H03860 , 19H03861 ). The funders had no role in the study design, data collection and analysis. The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the respective funding organizations.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 The Author(s)
PY - 2021/5
Y1 - 2021/5
N2 - In Western countries, the most important part of the face in communication is the mouth, whereas it is the eyes in Asian countries; thus oral health could be more important in social interactions in Western countries. Our aim was to examine differences in the association between oral health status and social isolation among older people by comparing Japan and England. We used cross-sectional information obtained from adults aged 65+ in two ongoing prospective cohort studies: The Japan Gerontological Evaluation Study (JAGES, N = 120,195) and the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA, N = 3,958). The dependent variable, social isolation score (SIS) was calculated from five factors (marital status, social support from children, social support from family, social support from friends, and social participation). The independent variables were self-reported number of remaining teeth (0, 1–9, 10–19, ≥20) and denture use (≥20 teeth, 10–19 teeth with denture, 10–19 teeth without denture, 0–9 teeth with denture, 0–9 teeth without denture), while the covariates in the model were: sex, age, educational attainment, self-rated health, number of comorbidities, household annual equivalized income, mental health status, daily living activities, and smoking status. We examined associations between oral health status and SIS by applying an ordered logit model by country. Compared to England, more Japanese participants were socially isolated (1.4% vs. 5.8%), but fewer were edentulous (13.1% vs. 7.7%). In both countries, poorer oral health further increased the odds of being socially isolated. Pooled analysis of the ordered logit model with an interaction term showed that the association of number of remaining teeth with SIS was stronger in edentulous participants and in England (odds ratio = 1.50, 95% Confidence interval:1.26–1.80). In both countries, oral health was associated with social isolation; this association could be stronger in England than in Japan.
AB - In Western countries, the most important part of the face in communication is the mouth, whereas it is the eyes in Asian countries; thus oral health could be more important in social interactions in Western countries. Our aim was to examine differences in the association between oral health status and social isolation among older people by comparing Japan and England. We used cross-sectional information obtained from adults aged 65+ in two ongoing prospective cohort studies: The Japan Gerontological Evaluation Study (JAGES, N = 120,195) and the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA, N = 3,958). The dependent variable, social isolation score (SIS) was calculated from five factors (marital status, social support from children, social support from family, social support from friends, and social participation). The independent variables were self-reported number of remaining teeth (0, 1–9, 10–19, ≥20) and denture use (≥20 teeth, 10–19 teeth with denture, 10–19 teeth without denture, 0–9 teeth with denture, 0–9 teeth without denture), while the covariates in the model were: sex, age, educational attainment, self-rated health, number of comorbidities, household annual equivalized income, mental health status, daily living activities, and smoking status. We examined associations between oral health status and SIS by applying an ordered logit model by country. Compared to England, more Japanese participants were socially isolated (1.4% vs. 5.8%), but fewer were edentulous (13.1% vs. 7.7%). In both countries, poorer oral health further increased the odds of being socially isolated. Pooled analysis of the ordered logit model with an interaction term showed that the association of number of remaining teeth with SIS was stronger in edentulous participants and in England (odds ratio = 1.50, 95% Confidence interval:1.26–1.80). In both countries, oral health was associated with social isolation; this association could be stronger in England than in Japan.
KW - Cross-national comparative study
KW - ELSA
KW - JAGES
KW - Number of remaining teeth
KW - Social isolation
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UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85104573877&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.socscimed.2021.113895
DO - 10.1016/j.socscimed.2021.113895
M3 - Article
C2 - 33882441
AN - SCOPUS:85104573877
VL - 277
JO - Ethics in Science and Medicine
JF - Ethics in Science and Medicine
SN - 0277-9536
M1 - 113895
ER -
