Hyposalivation and 10-year all-cause mortality in an elderly Japanese population.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the association of salivary flow rate with all-cause mortality among older Japanese adults. We hypothesised that hyposalivation would be a marker for mortality.

BACKGROUND: Hyposalivation, which is an objectively measurable decrease in salivary flow, is highly prevalent among older adults. It is associated with malnutrition and poor general health.

METHODS: The study population comprised 600 community-dwelling Japanese adults (306 men and 294 women), who were 70 years old at baseline. They underwent stimulated salivary flow rate (SSFR) measurements and were followed up during a 10-year study period. After stratification by sex, the hazard ratios of all-cause mortality were estimated using Cox proportional hazards regression analysis comparing groups with and without hyposalivation (ie, SSFR < 0.7 mL/min).

RESULTS: The baseline prevalence of hyposalivation was 27.8% (85/306) among men and 47.3% (139/294) among women. During a mean (standard deviation) follow-up period of 104 (27) months, 80 deaths occurred: 60 (75.0%) deaths among men and 20 (25.0%) deaths among women. After adjusting for the number of remaining teeth, smoking status, exercise, hypoalbuminemia, diabetes and cardiovascular disease, hyposalivation at baseline was significantly associated with all-cause mortality among men (adjusted hazard ratio, 1.71; 95% confidence interval, 1.01-2.89). In contrast, no association between SSFR and all-cause mortality existed among women.

CONCLUSION: Hyposalivation could be a marker for all-cause mortality among older community-dwelling Japanese men. Future studies investigating the association between SSFR and cause-specific mortality are warranted.