Utility of olfactory identification test for diagnosing Chinese patients with Alzheimer's disease

The present study examined the utility of two tests, the olfactory identification test and the olfactory threshold test, in detecting dementia of the Alzheimer's type in Chinese patients in Hong Kong. The olfactory identification test developed by Murphy, Anderson, and Markinson (1994) was utilized with some modifications of odor stimuli suitable for the Chinese culture. Results showed that patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) identified significantly fewer odors and had significantly higher olfactory threshold than their age- and education-matched normal control subjects. With the cut-off point of 5 identified odors (out of 6), the olfactory identification test yielded a sensitivity of 83% in discriminating AD patients from normal controls which was consistent with that reported by Morgan, Nordin, and Murphy (1995). Thus, the present results suggested that the olfactory identification test could be applied cross-culturally for identifying patients with dementia of the Alzheimer's type.