Well-being in patients with olfactory dysfunction

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Contributors

Abstract

This cross-sectional, retrospective study aimed to investigate the differences in well-being among patients with olfactory disorder (OD) with quantitative and/or qualitative olfactory dysfunctions, and to identify factors associated with well-being (WB). We included 470 OD patients. WB (WHO-5 questionnaire), quantitative olfactory function (Sniffin' Sticks) and qualitative dysfunction were assessed. Overall, 35% of the OD patients reported a poor WB, higher than 22% of the normative data in general population. For quantitative function, anosmia patients showed lower WB scores than hyposmia and normosmia patients (all p's < 0.03). For qualitative dysfunction, patients with severe parosmia showed lower WB scores than patients without and with less severe parosmia (p's < 0.01). Regarding OD causes in hyposmic patients, post-infectious patients showed poorer WB than idiopathic patients (p = 0.01); sinonasal patients had lower WB than post-traumatic and idiopathic patients (all p's < 0.04). There was a weak but significant positive correlation between WB score and Threshold test score (r = 0.11, p = 0.02). Hierarchical regression analyses showed that women gender, Threshold and overall Sniffin' Sticks scores (TDI) significantly predicted WB score in OD patients. Our results implied that quantitative and qualitative dysfunction is associated with WB. However, only patients with severe dysfunction showed significantly lower WB. While this needs to be better understood, in order to improve well-being, in these patients it appears to be highly important to improve olfactory function, and here especially olfactory sensitivity.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Article number113899
JournalPhysiology & behavior
Volume254
Publication statusPublished - 1 Oct 2022
Peer-reviewedYes

External IDs

Scopus 85133842822
unpaywall 10.1016/j.physbeh.2022.113899
Mendeley b48e6133-9816-3a6a-a9d3-c166eae2c44d
ORCID /0000-0001-7650-1731/work/146644558
ORCID /0000-0001-9713-0183/work/146645210

Keywords

Keywords

  • Cross-Sectional Studies, Female, Humans, Olfaction Disorders/etiology, Retrospective Studies, Smell, Surveys and Questionnaires, Anosmia, Olfactory dysfunction, Well-being, Hyposmia, Parosmia, Phantosmia