Background: Abnormal olfactory function becomes an early clinical sign of decreased cognitive function in the elderly, which is hypothetically to be associated with visuospatial function. This study focuses on the disturbance specific cognitive functioning of the temporal lobe, which is also responsible with olfactory function. This is important because disfunction of olfactory can be used as a predictor of decreased visuospastial function. Thus the purpose of this study was to determine the relationship of olfactory function to visuospatial cognitive function in the elderly.
Method This analytical cross sectional study was conducted among 187 elderly aged 68,25
5,883 years. Assessment for olfactory function using 10 familiar odors in elderly (impaired if score < 7) and visuospastial cognitive function tested with Visuoconstructional Praxis test (impaired if score < 9).
Results: The proportion of women was larger than men with a total of 127 subjects (67,9%), and most of them had
9 years of education (51,3%). About 42,8% of subjects experienced impairment of olfactory function and about 47,1% suffered from impairment of visuospatial cognitive function. There was significant association olfactory function, sex and education to visuospatial cognitive function (p < 0,05). Education has the greatest influence on visuospatial cognitive functioning
Conclusion: Olfactory function can be used as a predictor for impaired cognitive visuospatial function influenced by sex and length of education. |