Objective: To investigate the association between edentulism and cognition in people aged 50 and over in China. Methods: Cross-sectional data was collected from the first wave of World Health Organization Study on global AGEing and adult health in China, among people aged 50 and over in China. A comprehensive cognitive test was used to assess cognitive functions, including verbal recall (VR), verbal fluency (VF), forward digit span (FDS) and backward digit span (BDS) among the subjects. Association between edentulism and cognition was examined by a two-level (individual level and community level) linear model. Results: A total of 12 843 individuals aged 50 years and over were included for analysis, with an average age of (63.0±9.3) years. The overall prevalence of edentulism was 11.0%. The edentulous adults had lower mean scores of VR (4.55), VF (10.88), FDS (6.25), BDS (2.96) and overall cognition (49.15) (P<0.001). Edentulism was negatively associated with VR (β=-0.216, 95%CI: -0.370 - -0.062), FDS (β=-0.186, 95%CI: -0.293 - -0.078) and overall cognition (β=-1.703, 95%CI: -3.025 - -0.381) after adjusted for age, sex, residence, education level, marital status, household income, co-morbidity of chronic conditions, BMI, smoking and drinking alcohol. Conclusion: Edentulism was related with lower cognition level in people aged 50 and over in China.
目的： 分析≥50岁人群无牙症和认知功能的关系。 方法： 数据来源于WHO全球老龄化与成人健康研究中国项目第一轮基线调查。认知能力测试包括词语回忆、语言流畅度、顺序数字跨度、倒序数字跨度。采用两水平（个体层面和社区层面）线性模型分析无牙症和认知功能的关系。 结果： 共纳入12 843名调查对象，年龄（63.0±9.3）岁。无牙症比例为11.0%。无牙症者词语回忆、语言流畅度、顺序数字跨度、倒序数字跨度、认知能力总分均值分别为4.55、10.88、6.25、2.96和49.15，均低于非无牙症者，差异有统计学意义（P<0.001）。调整年龄、性别、地区、文化程度、婚姻状况、家庭经济水平、慢性病共患情况、BMI和吸烟、饮酒等因素后，无牙症与词语回忆（β=-0.216，95%CI：-0.370~-0.062）、顺序数字跨度（β=-0.186，95%CI：-0.293~-0.078）和认知能力总分（β=-1.703，95%CI：-3.025~-0.381）均呈负相关。 结论： 无牙症与≥50岁人群认知功能较低有关。.
Keywords: Cognition; Edentulism.