The food prepared for elderly persons with physical or mental disorders and those elderly persons requiring care at a long-term care insurance facility or nursing home must suit their masticatory and swallowing function. At present, there are no clear standards for assessment. In order to establish standards for assessment, a fact-finding survey was conducted at 2000 long-term care insurance facilities (welfare facilities for elderly persons requiring care, healthcare facilities for elderly persons requiring care, and medical facilities for long-term care) in Japan, and the current state of food preparation for residents with masticatory and swallowing disorders was examined.
Based on the results of a previous survey, a questionnaire was designed to determine the following four items: 1) facility type, 2) respondent's occupation, 3) items to assess masticatory and swallowing function disorders, and 4) persons responsible for deciding how the food should be cooked. Masticatory function disorders were assessed based on the following criteria: “cannot eat normal food”, “with or without teeth/dentures”, “requires further investigations” and “others (open-response question)”. Swallowing function disorders were assessed based on the following criteria: “eating”, “choking while eating” and “systemic condition after swallowing and diagnosis by specialists”. In terms of masticatory function disorders, “cannot chew”, “poor fitting denture” and “poor mastication due to tooth loss” were common responses. In terms of swallowing function disorders, “choking” was the common response. Although the degree of required care for residents and the distribution of healthcare professionals varied among the participating facilities, there were no marked differences in the response rate among the facility types . Even in facilities without specialists, persons-in-charge of food closely examined the oral cavity of residents and prepared food to suit their masticatory and swallowing function disorders. The items presented in the present study can be used to assess masticatory and swallowing function disorders at longterm care insurance facilities or nursing homes