BACKGROUND: Here, we refer to our publication "Symptoms of depression change with olfactory function" [Sci Rep. 2022 Apr 5;12(1):5656].

OBJECTIVES: Depression decreases with olfactory improvement, but the question remains open of whether patients who indicate more suffering regarding mood impairment exhibit a different pattern of recovery from olfactory loss compared to those who suffer less.

METHOD: In the course of an additional investigation of our previously published dataset, we established groups of participants (N = 171) with low (≤8 points on a depression [ADSL] scale; 47%; n = 45) and high (≥14 points on ADSL scale; 53%; n = 53) mood impairment.

RESULTS: We found that the group that reported more sufferance on a depression [ADSL] scale improved more in change of olfactory function, and, more importantly, odor discrimination change over a period of an average of 11 months.

CONCLUSION: Patients, who suffered more, as indicated by higher scores on ADSL scale, may have been more willing to commit to the study protocol, and thus their improvement was more notable.