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Association Between Chewing Difficulty and Symptoms of Depression in Adults: Results from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey
Author(s) -
Shin HyeSun,
Ahn YongSoon,
Lim DoSeon
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
journal of the american geriatrics society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.992
H-Index - 232
eISSN - 1532-5415
pISSN - 0002-8614
DOI - 10.1111/jgs.14502
Subject(s) - medicine , national health and nutrition examination survey , depression (economics) , odds ratio , confidence interval , logistic regression , confounding , cross sectional study , population , demography , environmental health , pathology , sociology , economics , macroeconomics
Objectives To assess the association between chewing difficulty and symptoms of depression in a representative sample of the Korean population. Design Cross‐sectional. Setting Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey ( KNHANES ). Participants KNHANES participants (N = 5,158). Measurements Chewing difficulty was assessed according to the self‐reported presence of chewing problems using a structured questionnaire. Symptoms of depression were defined as having feelings of sadness or depression consecutively over 2 weeks during the last 12 months. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was used to determine the adjusted odds ratios ( AOR s) and 95% confidence intervals ( CI s) of the associations between chewing difficulty and symptoms of depression, adjusted for age; sex; monthly household income; education; number of teeth; number of decayed, missing, or filled permanent teeth; periodontitis; state of dentition; tooth brushing frequency; regular dental visits; smoking status; alcohol consumption; hypertension; diabetes mellitus; and obesity. The interaction effects between chewing difficulty and confounders were evaluated, and age‐ and sex‐stratified analyses were performed. Results There was a significant positive association between chewing difficulty and symptoms of depression in the fully adjusted model ( AOR = 1.86, 95% CI = 1.48–2.33). The strength of the association was highest in men aged 60 and older ( AOR = 3.28, 95% CI = 1.54–7.00). Conclusion Chewing difficulty was independently associated with symptoms of depression in a representative sample of Korean adults.