Relationship between Sensory Perception and Frailty in a Community-Dwelling Elderly Population

Area of Science:

• Gerontology
• Sensory Perception
• Geriatric Health

Background:

• Aging anorexia, characterized by reduced appetite, is a potential risk factor for frailty.
• Impaired taste and smell in the elderly can decrease food enjoyment, contributing to aging anorexia.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the association between frailty and taste and smell perception in urban elderly residents.
• To determine if sensory perception deficits predict frailty in older adults.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of baseline data from 768 elderly residents (≥ 65 years) in a geriatric health survey.
• Evaluation of the Appetite, Hunger, Sensory Perception questionnaire (AHSP) taste (T) and smell (S) subscores, frailty, and other health indicators.
• Frailty diagnosed using modified Fried's criteria; statistical analysis included logistic regression.

Main Results:

• Taste perception (T) showed moderate accuracy (AUC 0.715) in predicting frailty, while smell perception (S) had low accuracy (AUC 0.657).
• Lower taste perception was significantly associated with exhaustion, and lower smell perception with slower walking speed.
• Adjusted logistic models revealed a significant association between taste perception and frailty (OR 2.81), but not smell perception (OR 1.73).

Conclusions:

• Diminished taste and smell perception, particularly taste, increases the risk of frailty in community-dwelling elderly individuals.
• Reduced sensory perception, specifically taste, may serve as a valuable indicator for identifying frailty in the aging population.