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P3‐182: Frequency of forgetting is associated with olfactory functions in healthy, community‐dwelling elderly
Author(s) -
Sohrabi Hamid R.,
Bates Kristyn A.,
Rodrigues Mark,
Taddei Kevin,
Laws Simon M.,
Lautenschlager Nicola T.,
Dhaliwal Satvinder S.,
Johnston Amy,
MacKay-Sim Alan,
Foster Jonathan K.,
Martins Ralph N.
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
alzheimer's and dementia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 6.713
H-Index - 118
eISSN - 1552-5279
pISSN - 1552-5260
DOI - 10.1016/j.jalz.2008.05.1748
Subject(s) - forgetting , audiology , correlation , olfaction , psychology , cognition , olfactory system , disease , detection threshold , medicine , clinical psychology , psychiatry , neuroscience , cognitive psychology , geometry , mathematics , real time computing , computer science
Background: Olfactory dysfunction and subjective memory complaints (SMC) have been separately reported in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) patients and in people at risk of developing AD or at a prodromal phase of the disease, such as mild cognitive impairment (MCI). However, SMC and olfactory dysfunction have also been reported in the healthy elderly and in other neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s disease. The current study was designed to examine the association of frequency of forgetting and the olfactory threshold, discrimination, and identication in the healthy, community elderly. Methods: The sample compromised 107 participants (29 male and 78 female) derived from an ongoing longitudinal cohort of 530 healthy, elderly participants in Western Australia. The Snifn’ Sticks was used to measure the different olfactory functions. The Snifn’ Sticks provides four different scores including the olfactory threshold, discrimination, identication, and a total score (namely, TDI). Subjective memory complaints were tested using two measures: i) a single “yes/no” question derived from CAMDX-R, and ii) the frequency of forgetting subscale of Memory Functioning Questionnaire. Results: There was no signicant difference between male/female and SMC/ control groups with respect to age, performance on Mini Mental Status Ex- amination (MMSE), and premorbid IQ. The SMC group was signicantly different from the control group on olfactory threshold (P⬍0.05) and identication (P⬍0.05). There was a signicant correlation between age and olfactory threshold. The frequency of forgetting showed signicant correlations with olfactory discrimination and identication (both signicant at: P⬍0.01). Age was the best predictor of threshold, while frequency of forgetting was a better predictor for olfactory discrimination and identication in comparison to age, sex, and depression. Conclusions: There were signicant associations between SMC and those olfactory functions related to memory for olfactory stimuli. Though further investigation is needed for a denitive conclusion, these ndings have important implications for the development of future screening instruments and better diagnostic criteria for AD.