CHEWING DIFFICULTIES AND NUTRITIONAL-STATUS IN THE ELDERLY

The prevalences of use of dentures and chewing difficulties were deter mined in a stratified random sample of elderly Chinese aged 70 years a nd over living in Hong Kong (879 men, 737 women). The prevalence of ch ewing difficulties was higher in women (45%) compared with men (37%), and increased with age. More subjects with chewing difficulties report ed weight loss of > 2 kg in the preceding 12 months, poor health, had higher depressive symptom scores, and lower mean mid arm circumference . However there was no difference in the frequency of consumption of v egetables, fruits, or meat. Only poor health and depression were indep endent factors associated with chewing difficulties in multivariate an alysis. Chewing problems do not appear to have any major impact on nut ritional status of the elderly.