ABSTRACT
Background: Olfactory impairment is aging related and is associated with cognitive decline in older adults. However, it remains unclear if an olfactory impairment is associated with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and the degree of impairment in the MCI subtypes. Materials and methods: In a cohort of community-living older adults aged 60 years and above, 670 participants were recruited from the Community Health and Intergenerational (CHI) Study. Olfactory function was assessed using a locally developed nine-item smell test in association with neurocognitive assessments. Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was used to examine the association of smell identification score and clinical cognitive status while considering demographic, clinical, and neuropsychological factors with Bonferroni correction for group comparisons. Results: Age-related smell detection between normal aging (NA) and MCI participants had no significant difference. The overall mean smell identification score in older adults was negatively correlated with age. The mean smell identification score of MCI participants was also not significantly different as compared with NA, but an amnestic MCI multiple domain (aMCI_MD) subgroup had significantly lower (impaired) mean smell identification scores compared with the NA and MCI single domain (amnestic and non-amnestic) group. Conclusion: This study demonstrated that olfactory identification impairment is a comorbidity in older adults with amnestic MCI (aMCI) and is a potential marker associated with an early stage of a neurocognitive disorder. The smell test could act as a screening tool to help in the early detection of smell impairment for heterogeneous syndromes of MCI among community-dwelling older adults. Clinicians and researchers could benefit from utilizing the locally developed smell test to screen their patients or research participants before the initiation of an appropriate health intervention or in a clinical trial.
ABSTRACT
The implementation of lockdown measures to curb the transmission of Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) has brought about significant psychological impacts and older adults have been identified as one of the vulnerable groups. In the current COVID-19 context among older adults in the community, the fear of COVID-19, anxiety symptoms, compassion, resilience, and the practice of protective behaviors are possibly related to each other in several ways. How these factors relate to each other would have important implications in managing the spread of the disease and its mental health consequences. To this end, we modeled their interrelationships using a structural equation model. Older adults (N = 421), aged 60 and above completed various questionnaires-COVID-19 Fear Inventory, Short form of the Geriatric Anxiety Inventory, COVID-19 Risky and Protective Behaviours, Resilience Appraisals Scale, and Compassion Scale during a COVID-19 lockdown. The relationships between these variables were assessed within a structural equation model. The findings showed that older adults who are more compassionate engage in protective behaviors more frequently. Additionally, frequent practice of protective behaviors and greater resilience predicted lower anxiety among older adults. Greater fear predicted higher anxiety levels but did not significantly influence an individual's engagement in protective behaviors. Mental health services are crucial in fostering resilience and supporting older adults psychologically. Social services are also necessary in maintaining and enhancing social support for older adults. Importantly, these findings suggest that public health communications could promote compassion and avoid using a fear-based approach to increase engagement in protective behaviors.
This study focused on the interrelations between various psychosocial factors (i.e., fear of COVID-19, compassion, and resilience) and the behavioral (i.e., engagement in protective health behaviors) and psychological responses (i.e., anxiety) to COVID-19 among community-dwelling older adults. The study analyzed self-reported data from 421 older adults who are aged 60 and above. The findings showed that older adults who are more compassionate engage in protective behaviors more frequently. Additionally, older adults who showed greater resilience and engage in protective health behaviors more frequently reported lower anxiety levels. Lastly, greater fear of COVID-19 predicted greater anxiety among older adults but did not significantly influence their engagement in protective health behaviors.
