Wang Na, Han Lizhen, Li Jiangtao, Zhao Wenlang, Zhang Yunqi, Zhou Pan, Wang Ziyu, Wang Mingdan, Sun Xueting, Hao Yongchen, Deng Qiuju, Yang Na, Yang Zhao, Jia Pingping, Sun Zhifu, Liu Jing, Qi Yue
Center for Clinical and Epidemiologic Research, Beijing Anzhen Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing Institute of Heart, Lung and Blood Vessel Diseases, National Clinical Research Center for Cardiovascular Diseases, The Key Laboratory of Remodeling-Related Cardiovascular Diseases, Ministry of Education, Beijing Municipal Key Laboratory of Clinical Epidemiology, Beijing, China.
Department of Otolaryngology, Smell and Taste Center, Beijing Anzhen Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China.
Psychogeriatrics. 2025 May;25(3):e70045. doi: 10.1111/psyg.70045.
To delay or prevent the development of MCI, identifying a potential target is essential. Olfactory dysfunction has been linked to MCI. However, it remains unclear to what extent odour-specific identification impairment affects domain-specific cognition. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the association of olfactory dysfunction and odour-specific identification impairment with cognitive domains in older adults.
In 1084 community-dwelling older adults from the Chinese Multi-Provincial Cohort Study, olfactory function was assessed using the modified Sniffin' Sticks identification test, and impaired odour identification was defined as an incorrect identification of one odour. Olfactory dysfunction was defined as three or more odours. Cognition was assessed using MOCA, comprised of six cognitive domains. MCI was defined as an education-modified MOCA score of < 26.
Overall, 35.6% of participants had olfactory dysfunction, and 60.1% had MCI. Participants with olfactory dysfunction had a higher risk of MCI and exhibited lower global cognitive function than those without olfactory dysfunction. Notably, impaired odour identification of fish (OR = 1.48, 95% CI: 1.03-2.13) and leather (OR = 1.45, 95% CI: 1.09-1.92) was significantly associated with the risk of MCI. Furthermore, impaired odour identification of all odours except rose was significantly associated with global cognitive function. Participants with impaired odour identification of fish and leather had significantly poorer memory than unimpaired participants.
Our findings demonstrated that impaired identification of specific odours increased the risk of MCI and domain-specific cognitive dysfunction, suggesting that odour identification impairment may thus be a potential target for future MCI/dementia intervention studies.
为了延缓或预防轻度认知障碍（MCI）的发展，确定一个潜在靶点至关重要。嗅觉功能障碍与MCI有关。然而，气味特异性识别障碍在多大程度上影响特定领域的认知仍不清楚。因此，我们旨在研究老年人嗅觉功能障碍和气味特异性识别障碍与认知领域之间的关联。
在中国多省份队列研究的1084名社区居住老年人中，使用改良的嗅觉棒识别测试评估嗅觉功能，将气味识别受损定义为一种气味识别错误。嗅觉功能障碍定义为三种或更多种气味识别错误。使用蒙特利尔认知评估量表（MOCA）评估认知，该量表由六个认知领域组成。MCI定义为经教育调整后的MOCA得分<26分。
总体而言，35.6%的参与者存在嗅觉功能障碍，60.1%的参与者患有MCI。与没有嗅觉功能障碍的参与者相比，有嗅觉功能障碍的参与者患MCI的风险更高，且整体认知功能较低。值得注意的是，对鱼（OR = 1.48，95%置信区间：1.03 - 2.13）和皮革（OR = 1.45，95%置信区间：1.09 - 1.92）的气味识别受损与MCI风险显著相关。此外，除玫瑰外所有气味的识别受损均与整体认知功能显著相关。对鱼和皮革气味识别受损的参与者的记忆力明显比未受损的参与者差。
我们的研究结果表明，特定气味识别受损会增加患MCI和特定领域认知功能障碍的风险，这表明气味识别障碍可能是未来MCI/痴呆症干预研究的一个潜在靶点。
