Aim: We studied the association between the activities of daily living (ADL) and oral diadochokinesis (OD) among 84 Japanese elderly individuals residing in a nursing home.
Methods: We assessed OD in terms of speech and articulation. Each subject repetitively produced the syllables /pa/, /ta/, /ka/ and the sequence /pataka/. We also evaluated comprehensive ADL (basic, BADL; instrumental, IADL; and communicative, CADL) based on the criteria of the ADL-20 and intellectual ability using the revised Hasegawa Dementia Scale (HDS-R). We classified types of OD into a hypokinesia group (less than 3 times per second for OD /pa//ta//ka/ or less than once per second for OD /pataka/) and a repetition exercise maintenance group (more than 3 times per second for OD /pa//ta/ /ka/ or more than once per second for OD /pataka/).
Results: After adjusting for age, sex, and HDS-R score, the ADL-20 total score of the hypokinesia group was significantly lower than that of the maintenance group for OD (/pa/ and /pataka/) (p<0.01). The BADL for mobility (BADLm) score in the hypokinesia group for all OD sections was significantly lower than that in the maintenance group (p<0.05). The BADL for self-care score (BADLs) in the hypokinesia group for OD (/pataka/) was lower than that in the maintenance group (p<0.01). The CADL score in the hypokinesia group for OD (/pa/) was lower than that in the maintenance group (p<0.05).
Conclusion: A decline in OD may have been associated with a decline in ADL in our subjects, suggesting that the rate of decline in OD may affect overall ADL in elderly individuals.