This Article  • Full text  • PDF  • Reply to article  • Send to a friend  • Save in My Folder  • Save to citation manager  • Permissions  Citing Articles  • Citation map  • Citing articles on HighWire  • Citing articles on ISI (13)  • Contact me when this article is cited  Related Content  • Similar articles in this journal  Topic Collections  • Olfaction and Taste Disorders  • Alert me on articles by topic

Daniel V. Santos, MD; Evan R. Reiter, MD; Laurence J. DiNardo, MD; Richard M. Costanzo, PhD

Arch Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2004;130:317-319.

Objective  To evaluate the risk of olfactory-related hazardous events in patients with impaired olfactory function.

Design  Retrospective cohort study.

Setting  A university-based clinic for smell and taste disorders.

Patients  A total of 445 patients who underwent olfactory testing between 1983 and 2001.

Interventions  Patient interview, olfactory testing.

Main Outcome Measures  (1) Frequency of olfactory-related hazardous events including cooking incidents (ie, burning pots or pans), undetected fires, undetected gas leaks, and ingestion of spoiled foods or toxic substances; (2) level of olfactory function (anosmia; severe, moderate, or mild hyposmia; or normosmia) as determined by olfactory testing.

Results  Olfactory testing revealed that 76% of patients had some degree of impairment; 30% had complete anosmia. Thirty-seven percent of patients with olfactory impairment but only 19% of patients without impairment experienced at least 1 olfactory-related hazardous event. Of the hazardous events reported by impaired patients, cooking-related incidents were most common, representing 45%, with ingestion of spoiled food (25%), inability to detect a gas leak (23%), and inability to smell a fire (7%) reported less frequently. There was a significant correlation between frequency of hazardous events and degree of olfactory impairment (Cochran-Armitage trend test, P<.001): at least 1 hazardous event was reported by 45.2% of patients with anosmia, 34.1% with severe hyposmia, 32.8% with moderate hyposmia, 24.2% with mild hyposmia, and 19.0% of patients with with normal olfaction by testing.

Conclusion  Patients with impaired olfactory function are more likely to experience olfactory-related hazardous events than those with normal olfactory function.

From the Departments of Otolaryngology–Head & Neck Surgery (Drs Santos, Reiter, DiNardo, and Costanzo) and Physiology (Drs Santos and Costanzo), Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond. The authors have no relevant financial interest in this article.

THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES

Evaluation of Long-Term Occupational Exposure to Styrene Vapor on Olfactory Function
Dalton et al.
Chem Senses 2007;32:739-747.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Recovery of olfactory function following closed head injury or infections of the upper respiratory tract.
Reden et al.
Arch Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg 2006;132:265-269.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

The Flavor of Aging
Davenport
Sci Aging Knowl Environ 2004;2004:ns1-ns1.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT