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The combination of olfactory dysfunction and depression increases the risk of incident dementia in older adults

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 June 2023

Shafi Kalam Open the ORCID record for Shafi Kalam [Opens in a new window] ,
Katya Numbers ,
Darren M. Lipnicki ,
Ben C. P. Lam ,
Henry Brodaty Open the ORCID record for Henry Brodaty [Opens in a new window]  and
Simone Reppermund
Shafi Kalam
Affiliation:
Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing (CHeBA), Discipline of Psychiatry & Mental Health, School of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Medicine & Health, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia
Katya Numbers*
Affiliation:
Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing (CHeBA), Discipline of Psychiatry & Mental Health, School of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Medicine & Health, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia
Darren M. Lipnicki
Affiliation:
Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing (CHeBA), Discipline of Psychiatry & Mental Health, School of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Medicine & Health, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia
Ben C. P. Lam
Affiliation:
Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing (CHeBA), Discipline of Psychiatry & Mental Health, School of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Medicine & Health, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia School of Psychology and Public Health, La Trobe University, VIC, Australia
Henry Brodaty
Affiliation:
Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing (CHeBA), Discipline of Psychiatry & Mental Health, School of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Medicine & Health, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia
Simone Reppermund
Affiliation:
Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing (CHeBA), Discipline of Psychiatry & Mental Health, School of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Medicine & Health, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia Department of Developmental Disability Neuropsychiatry (3DN), Discipline of Psychiatry & Mental Health, School of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Medicine & Health, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: Katya Numbers, Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing (CHeBA), School of Clinical Medicine, UNSW Medicine & Health, Discipline of Psychiatry & Mental Health, Level 1, AGSM (Building G27), Gate 11, Botany Street, UNSW Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia. Phone: +61 0459 613 288. Email: k.numbers@unsw.edu.au.
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Abstract

Objectives:

Olfactory dysfunction and depression are common in later life, and both have been presented as risk factors for dementia. Our purpose was to investigate the associations between these two risk factors and determine if they had an additive effect on dementia risk.

Design:

Olfactory function was assessed using the Brief Smell Identification Test (BSIT), and depression was classified using a combination of the 15-item Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) score and current antidepressant use. Cross-sectional associations between depression and olfactory function were examined using correlations. Cox regression analyses were conducted to examine the longitudinal relationship between olfaction and depression and incident dementia across 12-years of follow-up.

Participants:

Participants were 780 older adults (aged 70–90 years; 56.5% female) from the Sydney Memory and Ageing Study (MAS) without a diagnosis of dementia at baseline.

Results:

Partial correlation revealed a nonsignificant association between baseline depression and olfactory function after accounting for covariates (r = −.051, p = .173). Cox regression showed that depression at baseline (hazard ratio = 1.706, 95% CI 1.185–2.456, p = .004) and lower BSIT scores (HR = .845, 95%CI .789–.905, p < .001) were independently associated with a higher risk of incident dementia across 12 years. Entering both predictors together improved the overall predictive power of the model.

Conclusions:

Lower olfactory identification scores and depressive symptoms predict incident dementia over 12 years. The use of BSIT scores and depression in conjunction provides a greater ability to predict dementia than either used alone. Assessment of olfactory function and depression screening may provide clinical utility in the early detection of dementia.

Keywords

dementiadementia riskincident dementiadepressionolfactory dysfunctionaffective disordercognitive dysfunctionMCI
Type
Original Research Article
Information
International Psychogeriatrics , Volume 36 , Special Issue 2: Issue Theme: Psycho-Bio-Social Risk Factors and Dementia , February 2024 , pp. 130 - 141
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of International Psychogeriatric Association

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