{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,2]],"date-time":"2026-06-02T10:48:39Z","timestamp":1780397319890,"version":"3.54.1"},"reference-count":38,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"1","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,16]],"date-time":"2026-02-16T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1771200000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Geriatrics"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Objectives: This study investigated the impact of age on the diagnostic accuracy and patient acceptance of two chewing efficiency tests: the digital Mini Dental Assessment (MDA) using carrots and the CHEW test by Slavicek using fruit gum, applied in both clinical and nursing home settings. Methods: Seventy participants aged 18 to 99 years from dental clinics and nursing homes were included. All participants received a standardized dental examination (reference standard) and performed the MDA and CHEW tests. Sensitivity, specificity, and AUC values were calculated using ROC analysis. Participants rated both tests in terms of taste, consistency, comprehensibility, required time, and subjective chewing sensation. Acceptance was analyzed across age groups and prosthesis types. Results: Both chewing efficiency tests showed good agreement with the clinical reference standard. The AUC was 0.72 for the MDA and 0.78 for the CHEW test (p = 0.192). Sensitivity was higher for the CHEW test (100%) compared to the MDA (83.3%), while the MDA demonstrated slightly higher specificity (59.6% vs. 55.8%). Age significantly influenced both diagnostic outcomes and test acceptance (p &lt; 0.05). Younger participants (&lt;70 years) were more often correctly classified as healthy and tended to prefer the MDA, whereas older participants (\u226570 years) preferred the CHEW test, primarily due to taste. Misclassifications occurred most frequently among participants with complete dentures. Conclusions: Both the digital MDA and the CHEW chewing test demonstrated good diagnostic performance in identifying treatment need. Acceptance varied significantly with age, suggesting that test selection may be optimized based on patient characteristics. These simple and rapid assessments may support early detection of dental treatment needs in clinical and nursing home settings.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/geriatrics11010020","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,16]],"date-time":"2026-02-16T12:37:28Z","timestamp":1771245448000},"page":"20","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Age-Related Diagnostic Accuracy and Patient Acceptance of Two Chewing Efficiency Tests: An Exploratory Field Study"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"11","author":[{"given":"Alexander","family":"Schmidt","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Prosthodontics, Christian Albrecht University of Kiel, University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein, Campus Kiel, Arnold-Heller-Strasse 3, 24105 Kiel, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Marie-Christin","family":"Lehmann","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Dental Clinic, Department of Prosthodontics, Justus Liebig University, Schlangenzahl 14, 35392 Giessen, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Steffen","family":"Schlee","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Geriatric Internal Medicine, Herz-Jesu Hospital Fulda, Buttlarstrasse 74, 36039 Fulda, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4747-824X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Maximiliane Amelie","family":"Schlenz","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Prosthodontics, Christian Albrecht University of Kiel, University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein, Campus Kiel, Arnold-Heller-Strasse 3, 24105 Kiel, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5747-5651","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Bernd","family":"W\u00f6stmann","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Dental Clinic, Department of Prosthodontics, Justus Liebig University, Schlangenzahl 14, 35392 Giessen, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,16]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"99","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1741-2358.2006.00118.x","article-title":"The oral health of individuals with dementia in nursing homes","volume":"23","author":"Adam","year":"2006","journal-title":"Gerodontology"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"460","DOI":"10.12968\/denu.2011.38.7.460","article-title":"Prosthodontic care for elderly patients","volume":"38","author":"Allen","year":"2011","journal-title":"Dent. 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