高齢者の嗅覚機能に関する調査研究 : 嗅覚機能と年齢、痴呆、ADL、基礎疾患および食事形態についての比較検討

抄録

Olfaction has been studied among the elderly with dementia and various diseases in a geriatric health service. Seventy-six elderly individuals (mean age 81.6±6.2 yr.) were exposed to such odors as banana, chocolate, matsutake, vanilla, cheese, lemon, rose and cinnamon, using the scratch and sniff method. They were asked to rate the intensity of each odor, its pleasantness or unpleasantness and then choose the corresponding name. The ability of odor perception significantly lowered in elderly with dementia. Activity of daily living (ADL) and several disease histories have shown no relationship to either odor detection or identification. However, the elderly who consumed minced meals revealed the lower odor identification ability than those who generally eat normal meals. Based on the findings of a multiple regression analysis, the type of meal (minced or normal) was thus found to be most important factor affecting odor identification (age : r=-0.078,P=0.541 ; dementia : r=-0.262,P=0.036 ; ADL : r=0.264,P=0.035 ; type of meal : r=0.353,P=0.004).