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Volume :

3

Issue :

1

Abstract :

Background: Olfactory dysfunctions albeit commonly studied in research study are rarely tested in clinical practice and commonly overlooked in elderly. With ageing, rate of decline in olfactory and cognitive functions increases. Diabetic patients are more prone to develop these olfactory and cognitive dysfunctions. Elderly diabetic patients with olfactory dysfunction were found to have increased incidence of cognitive impairment as compared to patients without olfactory dysfunction. So olfactory function testing can be used as screening tool to detect cognitive impairment at earliest and can halt the progression of cognitive impairment by appropriate measures. Methods: A cross-sectional study done on 200 elderly diabetic patients. Olfactory dysfunctions were detected by open essence test and cognitive testing was done with MMSE. Patients with psychosis, apparent dementia, any nasal disease were excluded. Results: Out of 200 patients total number of patients with MMSE 26 were 19, 51 and 150 with average Open Essence (OE) score 6.05±, 6.74±0.92 and 8.5±0.54 respectively indicating that patients with lower OE score were found to have lower MMSE score. Conclusion: With ageing, olfactory as well as cognitive dysfunction increases. Diabetes accelerates these processes substantially. Olfactory dysfunction precedes the development of cognitive impairment. So elderly patients with diabetes should be screened for olfactory functions so that proper measures could be taken to decrease the incidence or severity of cognitive dysfunction.