Association of chewing ability with cardiovascular disease mortality in the 80-year-old Japanese population

Background Few have studied the association between chewing ability and longevity. Design and methods In this prospective study, we analyzed 697 80-year-old participants residing in Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. Chewing ability was assessed on the basis of the types of food that each participant reported being able to chew. Results During follow-up, 108 participants died. Patients reporting the lowest numbers of chewable foods were associated with higher risks of cardiovascular mortality than those who were able to chew all the types of food surveyed (multivariate hazard ratio: 4.60; 95% confidence interval: 1.01-21.1). Conclusions Impaired dentition status with poor masticatory ability was an independent risk factor for cardiovascular mortality in active elderly individuals.