Gunzer W
W. Gunzer, FH JOANNEUM University of Applied Sciences, Department of Health Studies, Insitute of Dietetics and Nutrition, Graz, Austria,
J Nutr Health Aging. 2017;21(9):1010-1015. doi: 10.1007/s12603-017-0873-8.
Olfactory performance plays a vital role in several aspects of everyday life. A decrease in olfactory function leading to reduced appetite and inadequate food intake could contribute to higher risk of malnutrition and has a significant impact on quality of life. Early detection of olfactory impairment may help to maintain normal, or - through early training - to improve olfactory function and could thus contribute to the prevention of malnutrition. This review summarizes recent findings on the association between decreased olfactory performance in older adults, its implication for overall health and discusses issues regarding the assessment of olfactory performance in older people.
A non-systematic literature search using databases (PubMed, ScienceDirect, Google Scholar) was conducted up to March 2016 to review recent findings on the topics of olfactory impairment, age, malnutrition and issues in psychophysical testing.
Although the association of olfactory impairment and malnutrition is widely accepted strong evidence is scarce. This could be because existing psychophysiological olfactory performance tests are not suitable and inefficient for older adults or people with cognitive impairment due to their required time and concentration. Since prevalence of olfactory impairment remains poorly documented in European regions and varies from 13.9% to >60% depending on age and due to considerable methodological diversity in studies there is need to develop rapid and efficient screening tools which are suitable for this target group.
Due to numerous causes and health consequences of olfactory impairment in older people, early detection of olfactory malfunction by rapid, inexpensive but valid tests, which could be used by geriatricians and other healthcare professionals, might be useful in patient counselling by identifying individuals at nutritional risk.
嗅觉功能在日常生活的多个方面起着至关重要的作用。嗅觉功能下降导致食欲减退和食物摄入不足，可能会增加营养不良的风险，并对生活质量产生重大影响。早期发现嗅觉障碍可能有助于维持正常嗅觉，或者通过早期训练改善嗅觉功能，从而有助于预防营养不良。本综述总结了关于老年人嗅觉功能下降之间的关联、其对整体健康的影响的最新研究结果，并讨论了老年人嗅觉功能评估的相关问题。
截至2016年3月，通过数据库（PubMed、ScienceDirect、谷歌学术）进行了非系统性文献检索，以回顾嗅觉障碍、年龄、营养不良以及心理物理学测试方面的最新研究结果。
尽管嗅觉障碍与营养不良之间的关联已被广泛认可，但有力证据却很少。这可能是因为现有的心理生理学嗅觉功能测试对于老年人或认知障碍患者而言并不合适且效率低下，因为这些测试需要时间和注意力。由于欧洲地区嗅觉障碍的患病率记录仍然很少，并且根据年龄不同在13.9%至>60%之间变化，而且研究中存在相当大的方法学差异，因此需要开发适用于该目标群体的快速有效的筛查工具。
由于老年人嗅觉障碍有多种原因和健康后果，通过快速、廉价但有效的测试早期发现嗅觉功能障碍，老年科医生和其他医疗保健专业人员可以使用这些测试，通过识别有营养风险的个体，可能有助于患者咨询。
