Capacidade mastigatória, qualidade da dieta e estado nutricional em longevos

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Nonagenarians experience important morphostructural changes, mainly oral. It is prevalent edentulism and the use of dental prostheses. However, the poor adaptation of these dental prostheses can cause an unsatisfactory masticatory condition, impairing food quality and nutritional status. OBJECTIVE: To study the possible relationship between masticatory ability and diet quality and nutritional status in longevity. METHODOLOGY: This is a cross-sectional study carried out between September and December 2016, in the home of nonagenarians and centenarians living in Porto Alegre, accompanied by the Multiprofessional Attention Project (AMPAL). The instrument used by AMPAL evaluated diet quality and anthropometric data, among others. From this evaluation of the umbrella project, the participants were identified with inclusion and exclusion criteria that could be part of this research. Masticatory capacity was considered poor when 2 minutes of chewing caused moderate or minor changes in the color of Xylitol® chewing gum (green, yellow and light pink). In addition to the AMPAL evaluation, the nutritional status was evaluated by the Mini Nutritional Assessment (MAN) ®. RESULTS: A total of 94 nonagenarians were evaluated, of which 52 (55%) had poor masticatory capacity. Nonagenarians with poor masticatory capacity were more often women (p = 0.006), with less years of study (p = 0.045), ate less fruits (p = 0.130) and fewer vegetables (p = 0.039) per week. They had more difficulty climbing stairs (p = 0.004), worse left palmar pressure force (p = 0.038) and slower walking speed (p = 0.036). Several components of MAN® presented altered values in the long-lived poor masticatory capacity. CONCLUSION: This was a pioneering research in Brazil. The Xylitol® was efficient to evaluate the masticatory capacity of nonagenarians at home level, being well accepted and easy to apply. Masticatory capacity was worse in women. Worse masticatory capacity was associated with worse functional performance, diet quality and nutritional status. We conclude that it was important to evaluate the masticatory capacity of nonagenarians. 13 We believe it necessary to include this parameter in the evaluation of longevity health, if we want to promote a better quality of life in this age group.