Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common cause of dementia in the elderly. Although AD treatment is still insufficient despite all the recent developments, detection and treatment in the early stage of disease have provided more clinical benefits. Objective: In this study, we aimed to use the critical flicker fusion (CFF) threshold test to diagnose AD in the early stage. Methods: In this study, 120 patients (above 65 years of age) and 50 control groups who were admitted to geriatrics outpatient clinic and diagnosed in early- and middle-stage AD were included. The remaining 58 patients and 25 healthy volunteers underwent comprehensive geriatric assessment and CFF testing. Results: The mean CFF value of AD group was significantly lower than the control group (36.44±7.00 vs. 44.24±3.82, p<0.001, respectively). There was a significant difference in standardized mini-mental state examination (MMSE) score in both groups (18.05±5.25 vs. 25.96±2.85, p<0.001, respectively). There was also a positive correlation between CFF value and MMSE score (p<0.001, r=0.459). Thirty-four patients were in the early-stage AD group and 24 patients were in the middle-stage AD group. There was a significant difference in CFF values between the three groups when we compared the patients in early- and middle-stage AD and control groups (p0.05). The cutoff value for the CFF variable was determined as 39 Hz [p<0.001; area under the curve (AUC)=0.852; sensitivity=70.69% (95% confidence interval [95%CI] 57.3–81.9); specificity=92.00% (95%CI 74.00–99.00)]. Conclusions: There is a significant difference in mean CFF values between AD and healthy groups. CFF testing may play an important role in diagnosing AD in the early stage.

Aim: Malnutrition is an important health problem that is frequently seen in elderly individuals and has cognitive and psychological effects. In this study, it was aimed to evaluate the frequencies of malnutrition, cognitive impairment and depression in the elderly population and the relationship between these three variables.Material and Methods: In this retrospective study, data of 433 patients aged 65 and over who applied to a university hospital geriatrics outpatient clinic in Turkey were included. Nutritional status was evaluated with the Mini Nutritional Assessment Short Form (MNA-SF), depressive symptoms with the Geriatric Depression Scale-Short Form (GDS-15) and cognitive functions with the Mini Mental State Examination results (MMSE).Results: According to the MNA-SF results, 13.6% of the elderly were malnourished, 30% were at risk of malnutrition. Of all patients, 45.0% had a GDS-15 score of ≥5, 12.5% had severe dementia, and 24.7% had mild dementia. The frequency of depressive symptoms was 62.7% in malnourished patients, and 42.3% in those with malnutrition risk. Malnutrition and malnutrition risk were observed in 70.4% of patients diagnosed with severe dementia. There was a correlation between the severity of malnutrition and depressive symptoms and cognitive dysfunction.Conclusion: Malnutrition was common in the older population sample and was associated with cognitive impairment and depressive symptoms. These findings emphasize that counseling and psychiatry services should be provided to risky groups and they should be evaluated regularly for early diagnosis.