Prevalence and assessment of qualitative olfactory dysfunction in different age groups

Area of Science:

• Otolaryngology
• Neuroscience
• Sensory Science

Background:

• Qualitative olfactory dysfunctions, such as parosmia and phantosmia, are common but often underdiagnosed.
• These conditions significantly impact patients' quality of life and may indicate underlying neurological or sinonasal issues.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine the prevalence of parosmia and phantosmia in a cohort of patients with chemosensory and nasal/sinus disorders.
• To evaluate the accuracy of a clinical questionnaire in assessing these olfactory dysfunctions.
• To investigate the impact of parosmia and phantosmia on odor identification performance.

Main Methods:

• A study involving 363 patients with chemosensory and/or nasal/sinus conditions.
• Utilized a clinical questionnaire to assess parosmia (distorted smell) and phantosmia (smell hallucination).
• Compared odor identification abilities between patients with and without these dysfunctions, controlling for odor intensity.

Main Results:

• Over 40% of the study group reported experiencing either parosmia (18.7%) or phantosmia (25.6%).
• The clinical questionnaire demonstrated reasonable validity in assessing these dysfunctions across different age groups.
• Patients with parosmia or phantosmia showed poorer performance in odor identification compared to controls when odor intensity was matched.

Conclusions:

• Parosmia and phantosmia are prevalent qualitative olfactory dysfunctions requiring increased clinical attention.
• Questionnaire-based assessment is a valid method for identifying parosmia and phantosmia.
• A discrepancy between odor identification and detection may signify parosmia, aiding in differential diagnosis.