# Testing Olfaction in Primary care to detect Alzheimer's disease and other Dementias (TOPAD)

> **NIH NIH R01** · COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCES · 2021 · $750,182

## Abstract

The goal of our project, called “Testing Olfaction in Primary care to detect Alzheimer’s disease and other
Dementias (TOPAD)”, is to test the 12-item BSIT, a short, standardized version of the 40-item University of
Pennsylvania Smell Identification Test (UPSIT), for detection of dementia among elderly persons with cognitive
concerns in a community-based primary care setting, in response to PAR-15-359 (Novel Approaches to
Diagnosing Alzheimer’s Disease and Predicting Progression), and its second aim: “Identifying new biomarkers
that are minimally invasive, inexpensive, usable in community settings”. Many elderly persons develop dementia
that remains undiagnosed in primary care settings until it is severe, leading to catastrophic consequences for
patients, families, and the health care system. Odor identification impairment with the 40-item UPSIT is a well-
validated biomarker of dementia, particularly dementia of the Alzheimer’s type (DAT), The shorter version of the
UPSIT, the 12-item BSIT, has been shown to be similar to the UPSIT in distinguishing and predicting MCI and
DAT. We propose the BSIT for detection of dementia in primary care because it takes 5 minutes to administer,
is inexpensive, and can be administered by non-medical personnel. We propose to test the BSIT for detection
of dementia among 600 patients with cognitive concerns, without a diagnosis of dementia, age 65 years and
older, who attend primary care practices in Northern Manhattan. The term cognitive concerns includes subjective
cognitive decline (SCD), and warning signs identified by relatives, significant others, and health care providers.
All participants will be tested with the BSIT, the MMSE, and other common dementia screening tools. The
performance of tools will be assessed using as a gold standard cognitive diagnosis based using the 2011
National Institute on Aging (NIA)/Alzheimer Association (AA) recommendations for dementia and MCI using the
National Alzheimer’s Coordinating Center (NACC) protocol. Our primary outcome will be dementia diagnosis at
the initial evaluation. Cognitive assessments will be repeated every 12 months. Our secondary outcomes will be
cognitive transitions to dementia (and subtypes), MCI and MCI subtypes. Our primary aim is to compare the
accuracy of the BSIT with the MMSE for dementia detection at initial evaluation among persons aged 65 years
and older with cognitive concerns in primary care. In secondary analyses, we will examine the secondary
outcomes and compare the accuracy of the BSIT for dementia detection with other instruments: Montreal
Cognitive Assessment (MOCA), Mini-Cog and Memory Impairment Screen (MIS). Our secondary aim is to
compare the BSIT with the MMSE in predicting cognitive transitions at 12 and 24 months. In secondary analyses,
we will compare the BSIT with other screening instruments (MOCA, Mini-Cog, MIS). TOPAD will be conducted
by a multidisciplinary team of experts in Alzheimer’s research, odor identification testing,...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10192624
- **Project number:** 5R01AG057898-05
- **Recipient organization:** COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCES
- **Principal Investigator:** DAVANGERE P DEVANAND
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $750,182
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2017-09-30 → 2025-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10192624

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10192624, Testing Olfaction in Primary care to detect Alzheimer's disease and other Dementias (TOPAD) (5R01AG057898-05). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10192624. Licensed CC0.

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