title: Olfactory identification and cognitive performance in community-dwelling older adults with mild cognitive impairment.
abstract: Olfactory impairment constitutes one of the earliest signs of Alzheimer's disease in older adults with mild cognitive impairment. We investigated which aspects of neuropsychological measures are correlated with olfactory identification performance among older adults with mild cognitive impairment. Total of 220 participants with mild cognitive impairment (mean age 71.7 years) were examined. Odor identification was assessed using the Open Essence test. Participants underwent comprehensive neurocognitive evaluation, including measures of verbal memory, visual memory, working memory, attention/executive function, and processing speed. We examined associations between olfactory function and cognitive performance scores. Participants with severe hyposmia exhibited significantly poor verbal and visual memory performance, attention/executive function, and slower processing speed scores compared with those without severe hyposmia. In multivariable logistic regression models, better performance scores on verbal and visual memory were significantly associated with decreased likelihood of severe hyposmia after adjusting for age, sex, education, and other cognitive performance scores. These findings suggest that olfactory impairment might be more closely associated with memory loss compared with other aspects of cognitive functioning in mild cognitive impairment subjects.
authors.affiliation: Section for Health Promotion, Department for Research and Development to Support Independent Life of Elderly, Center for Gerontology and Social Science, National Center for Geriatrics and Gerontology, 35 Gengo, Morioka-machi, Obu, Aichi 474-8511, Japan. makizako@ncgg.go.jp.
authors.forename: Mihoko
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Makizako
authors.forename: Hyuma
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Makizako
authors.forename: Takehiko
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Doi
authors.forename: Kazuki
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Uemura
authors.forename: Kota
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tsutsumimoto
authors.forename: Hideki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Miyaguchi
authors.forename: Hiroyuki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Shimada
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000175:diagnosis; D003071:Cognition; D060825:Cognitive Dysfunction / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D009812:Odorants / Q000032:analysis; D000857:Olfaction Disorders / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis
keywords: cognitive functioning; memory; olfactory identification