Archives of clinical neuropsychology : the official journal of the National Academy of Neuropsychologists
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Arch Clin Neuropsychol · Aug 2013
Odor identification deficit predicts clinical conversion from mild cognitive impairment to dementia due to Alzheimer's disease.
The aim of this study was to analyze the relationship between olfactory and cognitive functions in subjects affected by mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and to investigate whether olfactory deficits might reflect the likelihood of conversion from MCI to dementia. In this longitudinal study conducted on a sample of MCI outpatients, CA-SIT Smell Identification Test was administered to 88 MCI subjects and 46 healthy control subjects. ⋯ In a logistic regression model, a lower score in MMSE (95%, OR 1.9; IC 1.23-3.01; p = .004) and a pathological smell identification at baseline (95%, OR 5.1; IC 1.16-22.6; p = .03) were independently associated with the progression to dementia within 2 years. This study confirms that smell identification testing may be useful in high-risk settings to identify patients at risk for developing dementia.
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We examined the relationship between a remote history of concussions with current symptoms of depression in retired professional athletes. Thirty retired National Football League (NFL) athletes with a history of concussion and 29 age- and IQ-matched controls without a history of concussion were recruited. ⋯ In general, NFL players endorsed more symptoms of depression on all three Buckley factors compared with matched controls. Findings suggest that the number of self-reported concussions may be related to later depressive symptomology (particularly cognitive symptoms of depression).