Development and validation of a chewing function questionnaire for Chinese older adults

Objectives: To develop and validate a questionnaire for assessing chewing function of Chinese older adults. Methods: The chewing function questionnaire was validated on older adults recruited from a dental hospital, an elderly home and three community centers in Hong Kong. The participants were asked to indicate their ability to chew on each of the 20 selected food items and to self-rate their overall chewing ability. Chewing function was objectively assessed by asking the participant to chew a color-changeable gum for 90 s. The color of the chewed gum was assessed using a colorimeter. Participant's maximum bite force was also measured by an electronic detector. Results: A total of 211 elders participated in this study. Ten out of the 20 food items were selected to create the final unidimensional chewing function questionnaire (CFQ). The overall Cronbach's alpha value for the CFQ was 0.912. The weighted kappa value of each food item ranged from 0.6 to 1. In general, participants with larger color change of the chewed gum had significantly higher median rank of the CFQ total score and of the score of each food item (p < 0.01). The CFQ total score was correlated with the color change of the chewed gum as measured by colorimeter (p < 0.001), the maximum bite force (p < 0.001) and self-rated chewing ability (p < 0.001). Conclusion: The new unidimensional chewing function questionnaire is a valid and reliable questionnaire for assessing self-rated chewing ability of Chinese older adults. Clinical significance: The newly developed self-reported questionnaire can be used to assess the chewing function of Chinese older adults and dentists can use the information obtained to discuss with their patients regarding the need for oral function rehabilitation, such as the treatment need for fixed or removable dental prosthesis.

Automated summary

The study validated a reliable chewing function questionnaire for Chinese older adults, where participants with greater color change of the chewed gum had higher chewing function scores. The questionnaire can be used to assess the chewing ability of older adults and discuss treatment needs for oral function rehabilitation with dentists.