The Relationship Between the Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status (RBANS) and Olfaction in Patients Referred for a Dementia Evaluation

The current study examined the relationship between a standardized dementia battery (Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status [RBANS]) and a test of olfactory discrimination (University of Pennsylvania Smell Identification Test [UPSIT]) in a heterogeneous sample of patients referred for a dementia assessment (N=103). Significant moderate correlations were found between the UPSIT and each of the RBANS indexes, with the strongest correlation for Total Scale score, followed by the Delayed Memory Index and the Language Index. Significant moderate correlations were also found between the UPSIT and 11 of the 12 subtests of the RBANS. While the major RBANS indexes demonstrated significant correlations with education and the Wechsler Test of Adult Reading, a measure of premorbid IQ, the UPSIT did not. This suggests the UPSIT may be sensitive to decline in dementia and largely unaffected by premorbid cognitive functioning. As a result, the UPSIT may provide neuropsychologists with an efficient, cost-effective, and sensitive supplement to a standard dementia battery.