Relationship between oral and physical function and length of participation in long-term care prevention programs in community-dwelling older Japanese women.

This study aimed to clarify the relationship between community-dwelling older women’s participation period in community-based exercise programs and their oral and physical functioning. Long-term participation in an exercise program is associated with greater handgrip strength and repetition of the monosyllable /ka/ in independent older Japanese women. Physical function and tongue motor function may be related to participation duration in an exercise program. The present study aimed to clarify the relationship between community-dwelling older women’s participation period in community-based exercise programs and their oral and physical functioning. From May to September 2019, we recruited 205 older women (mean age: 77.6 ± 5.5 years) who had joined weekly long-term care prevention programs such as community-based exercise programs that included oral and physical exercises, in Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan. Physical function was evaluated using a handgrip strength test, a Timed Up & Go test, a one-leg standing test, and a 30-s chair stand test. Tongue pressure, oral diadochokinesis, and Dysphagia Risk Assessment for the Community-dwelling Elderly were measured to evaluate oral functioning. After adjusting for clinical factors (i.e., age, BMI, hypertension, diabetes, stroke, heart disease, joint disease, osteoporosis, remaining teeth, denture use, oral wetness, history of dental examinations in the last year, use of interdental brush and/or dental floss), we compared the oral and physical function parameters of participants from varying program engagement periods using propensity score matching. A significant increase in mean handgrip strength was found in people who had been participating for ≥ 5 years compared with those who had been participating for < 5 years (p = 0.01). Furthermore, repetition of the monosyllable/ka/was significantly greater for people in the ≥ 5 years group compared with those in the < 5 years group (p = 0.03). Long-term participation in an exercise program is positively associated with handgrip strength and tongue motor function in independent older women.