Correlation of cognitive and masticatory function in Alzheimer's disease

• Autor(a) principal: Campos, Camila Heitor
• Data de Publicação: 2017
• Outros Autores: Ribeiro, Giselle Rodrigues, Riani Costa, Jose Luiz [UNESP], Matheus Rodrigues Garcia, Renata Cunha
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Institucional da UNESP
• Texto Completo: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00784-016-1923-z; http://hdl.handle.net/11449/159400
• topic: Alzheimer's disease; Mastication; Cognition

This study investigated chewing function in elderly individuals with Alzheimer's disease (AD) and correlated chewing function with cognitive status. Sixteen elderly individuals with mild AD (mean age 76.7 +/- 6.3 years; 8 men, 8 women) and 16 age and gender-matched healthy controls (mean age 75.23 +/- 4.4 years; 8 men, 8 women) were included in this study. All volunteers wore removable prostheses: 11 were totally edentulous and five were partially edentulous in each group. Chewing function was evaluated via masticatory performance (MP) using Optocal chewable test material and a sieve fractionation method. Cognitive functioning was assessed by the Mini Mental State Exam (MMSE), administered by a trained examiner. Data were analyzed by non-paired t test and Pearson's correlation with alpha = 0.05. Compared to controls, mild AD patients had decreased MP (P < 0.01) and MMSE (P = 0.01). MP showed a moderate negative correlation with MMSE (r = -0.69). Mild AD was associated with impaired chewing function. Knowledge that mild AD has an impact on chewing is important for dental professionals in decision-making related to prosthetics and general dental treatment.