Background: The world's population is aging increasingly, and older adults' physical and mental health needs to be prioritized. Although several studies have explored the relationship between cognition, depression, and oral health in older adults, the exact nature and direction of this relationship are poorly understood. Moreover, most studies to date have been cross-sectional, with fewer longitudinal studies. The current longitudinal study explored the relationship between cognition, depression, and oral health in older adults.
Methods: We used data from two waves (2018, 2020) of the Korean Longitudinal Study of Aging, which included 4543 older adults aged 60 years and older. General socio-demographic characteristics were analyzed using descriptive analysis, and study variables were described using t-tests. Generalized Estimating Equations (GEE) and cross-lagged models were used to examine the longitudinal associations between cognition, depression, and oral health.
Results: The GEE results suggested that better cognition and less depression over time were associated with better oral health in older adults. Cross-lagged models further validated the effect of depression on oral health over time.
Limitations: The directionality of the influence of cognition on oral health could not be determined.
Conclusions: Although there were several limitations, our study provided novel ideas for verifying the effects of cognition and depression on oral health in older adults.
Keywords: Cognition; Depression; Korean Longitudinal Study of Aging; Longitudinal data; Older Koreans; Oral health.
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