Recent studies have noted an association between chewing difficulties and frailty. In a pilot survey of primary care needs of older people living in the community using automated methods, we examined the prevalence of chewing difficulties and the cross-sectional association with other geriatric syndromes, chronic diseases, and the use of hospital services. A brief multi-domain geriatric assessment was administered to 2259 men and women using a mobile device, the data uploaded to the cloud and analyzed. A total of 37.8% had chewing difficulties, which were associated with older age, poor vision, frailty, sarcopenia, memory complaints, low subjective well-being, incontinence, and stroke. The results suggest that chewing difficulties should be included as a geriatric syndrome and should be included in primary care screening of geriatric syndromes as well as chronic diseases.
Keywords: chewing difficulty; frailty; geriatric syndrome; oral health; primary care.