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Epidemiology
Research
Social networks, leisure activities and maximum tongue pressure: cross-sectional associations in the Nagasaki Islands Study
  1. Mako Nagayoshi1,
  2. Miho Higashi2,
  3. Noboru Takamura2,
  4. Mami Tamai3,
  5. Jun Koyamatsu4,
  6. Hirotomo Yamanashi4,
  7. Koichiro Kadota1,
  8. Shimpei Sato1,
  9. Shin-ya Kawashiri1,
  10. Zenya Koyama5,
  11. Toshiyuki Saito5,
  12. Takahiro Maeda1,4
  1. 1 Department of Community Medicine, Nagasaki University Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Nagasaki, Japan
  2. 2 Department of Global Health, Medicine and Welfare, Atomic Bomb Disease Institute, Nagasaki University, Nagasaki, Japan
  3. 3 Department of Immunology and Rheumatology, Nagasaki University Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Nagasaki, Japan
  4. 4 Department of Island and Community Medicine, Nagasaki University Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Nagasaki, Japan
  5. 5 Department of Oral Health, Nagasaki University Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Nagasaki, Japan
  1. Correspondence to Dr Mako Nagayoshi; mnagayoshi{at}nagasaki-u.ac.jp

Abstract

Objectives Social environment is often associated with health outcomes, but epidemiological evidence for its effect on oral frailty, a potential risk factor for aspiration, is sparse. This study aimed to assess the association between social environment and tongue pressure, as an important measure of oral function. The study focused on family structure, social networks both with and beyond neighbours, and participation in leisure activities.

Design A population-based cross-sectional study.

Setting Annual health check-ups in a rural community in Japan.

Participants A total of 1982 participants, all over 40 years old. Anyone with missing data for the main outcome (n=14) was excluded.

Outcome measures Tongue pressure was measured three times, and the maximum tongue pressure was used for analysis. A multivariable adjusted regression model was used to calculate parameter estimates (B) for tongue pressure.

Results Having a social network involving neighbours (B=2.43, P=0.0001) and taking part in leisure activities (B=1.58, P=0.005) were independently associated with higher tongue pressure, but there was no link with social networks beyond neighbours (B=0.23, P=0.77). Sex-specific analyses showed that for men, having a partner was associated with higher tongue pressure, independent of the number of people in the household (B=2.26, P=0.01), but there was no association among women (B=−0.24, P=0.72; P-interaction=0.059).

Conclusions Having a social network involving neighbours and taking part in leisure activities were independently associated with higher tongue pressure. Marital status may be an important factor in higher tongue pressure in men.

  • social network
  • social environment
  • oral frailty
  • family arrangement
  • marital status
  • epidemiology

This is an Open Access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/

https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2016-014878

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    Footnotes

    • Contributors MN conceived the study, analysed and interpreted the data, drafted the manuscript, and provided statistical expertise. MN, MH, NT, MT, JK, HY, KK, SS, ZK, TS and TM acquired the data. MN, MH, NT, MT, JK, HY, KK, SS, S-yK, ZK, TS and TM interpreted the data and critically revised the manuscript. TM is guarantor for the study. All authors approved the final version of the paper.

    • Funding This work was supported by Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research (no. 17H03740) and by Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (A) (no. 16H06240) from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science.

    • Competing interests None declared.

    • Ethics approval This study was approved by the Ethics Committee in Nagasaki University Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences (project registration no 14051404).

    • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.

    • Data sharing statement Researchers can apply for data by submitting a proposal to ritouken@vc.fctv-net.jp. After agreement of the proposed analysis by the steering committee, and approval by the executive committee, collaborative researchers receive participants’ data based on the proposed analysis.