Smell Test Increases Accuracy of Alzheimer Disease Diagnosis

A new study found that odor identification might be useful for screening patients for Alzheimer disease or mild cognitive impairment.

Researchers sought to test the ability of odor identification in accurately diagnosing Alzheimer disease and mild cognitive impairment in 292 healthy, older participants, 262 participants with Alzheimer disease, and 174 participants with mild cognitive impairment. Participants completed the Sniffin’ Sticks Odor Identification Test and the Montreal Cognitive Assessment.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
RELATED CONTENT
Can Sense of Smell Foreshadow Alzheimer Risk?
Can Physical Activity Improve How Alzheimer Patients Function? 
_______________________________________________________________________________________________

The healthy older adult participants scored higher on the odor identification test than the participants with mild cognitive impairment or Alzheimer disease. Participants with mild cognitive impairment outperformed participants with Alzheimer disease. Researchers noted that using the Sniffin’ Sticks Odor Identification Test improved diagnostic accuracy.

Overall, researchers concluded that odor identification is a helpful supplementary screening tool for diagnosing Alzheimer disease and mild cognitive impairment in patients.

—Melissa Weiss

Reference:

Quarmley M, Moberg PJ, Mechanic-Hamilton D, et al. Odor identification screening improves diagnostic classification in incipient Alzheimer’s disease [published online December 20, 2016]. Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease. doi:10.3233/JAD-160842.