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Examining the associations between oral health and social isolation: A cross-national comparative study between Japan and England.

Koyama, S; Saito, M; Cable, N; Ikeda, T; Tsuji, T; Noguchi, T; Abbas, H; ... Aida, J; + view all (2021) Examining the associations between oral health and social isolation: A cross-national comparative study between Japan and England. Social Science & Medicine , 277 , Article 113895. 10.1016/j.socscimed.2021.113895. Green open access

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Abstract

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.

Type: Article
Title: Examining the associations between oral health and social isolation: A cross-national comparative study between Japan and England.
Location: England
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2021.113895
Publisher version: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2021.113895
Language: English
Additional information: © 2021 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Keywords: Cross-national comparative study; ELSA; JAGES; Number of remaining teeth; Social isolation
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > Institute of Epidemiology and Health
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > Institute of Epidemiology and Health > Epidemiology and Public Health
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10126793
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