ArticlePhilosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences2020
Consequences of undetected olfactory loss for human chemosensory communication and well-being.
Article in Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 28 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
28 citing papers in PubMed, 64 citations in OpenAlex.
- Olfactory training with Aromastics: olfactory and cognitive effects.European archives of oto-rhino-laryngology : official journal of the European Federation of Oto-Rhino-Laryngological Societies (EUFOS) : affiliated with the German Society for Oto-Rhino-Laryngology - Head and Neck Surgery · 2022Trial
- Human sex recognition: a developmental voice-based model of brain circuits.Frontiers in behavioral neuroscience · 2026Article
- The linear association between high-density lipoprotein cholesterol and diabetic retinopathy : a cross-sectional study in diabetic patients.Journal of diabetes and metabolic disorders · 2025Article
- Sensory Insights in Aging: Exploring the Impact on Improving Dietary Through Sensory Enhancement.Food science & nutrition · 2025Review
- Nature and human well-being: The olfactory pathway.Science advances · 2024Review
- Using SCENTinel® to predict SARS-CoV-2 infection: insights from a community sample during dominance of Delta and Omicron variants.Frontiers in public health · 2024Article
- Review
- Article
- Applicability of Sniffin' Sticks Identification Test as a Screening Tool for Olfactory Dysfunction in Northeast China.Medical science monitor : international medical journal of experimental and clinical research · 2023Article
- Proof-of-concept: SCENTinel 1.1 rapidly discriminates COVID-19-related olfactory disorders.Chemical senses · 2023Article
- Proof-of-concept: SCENTinel 1.1 rapidly discriminates COVID-19 related olfactory disorders.medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2022Article
- Correlation between olfactory function, age, sex, and cognitive reserve index in the Italian population.European archives of oto-rhino-laryngology : official journal of the European Federation of Oto-Rhino-Laryngological Societies (EUFOS) : affiliated with the German Society for Oto-Rhino-Laryngology - Head and Neck Surgery · 2022Article
- International consensus statement on allergy and rhinology: Olfaction.International forum of allergy & rhinology · 2022Review
- Olfactory and gustatory disorders caused by COVID-19: How to regain the pleasure of eating?Trends in food science & technology · 2022Article
- The Shape of the Olfactory Bulb Predicts Olfactory Function.Brain sciences · 2022Article
- A Pilot Study of Self-Rated and Psychophysical Olfactory Dysfunction in Men Living with HIV.Chemosensory perception · 2022Article
- Systemic corticosteroids in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)-related smell dysfunction: an international view.International forum of allergy & rhinology · 2021Article
- From loss to recovery: how to effectively assess chemosensory impairments during COVID-19 pandemic.medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2021Article
- Loss of Smell and Taste are Newly Emerging Symptoms in COVID-19 Patients Necessitating More Insights into their Diagnostic Evaluation.Oman medical journal · 2021Article
- The social odor scale: Development and initial validation of a new scale for the assessment of social odor awareness.PloS one · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 3 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Olfactory perception has implications for human chemosensory communication and in a broader context, it affects well-being. However, most of the studies investigating the consequences of olfactory loss have recruited patients who have already been categorized as having a dysfunctional sense of smell and sought help in an ENT clinic. We revisit these findings by distinguishing subjects with olfactory impairment from a group of subjects who all declared a normal sense of smell when enrolling for this study. In the initial sample of 203 individuals, we found 59 to have impaired olfaction and four with marginal olfactory performance, not useful in daily life. Interestingly, we found a significant between-group difference in cognitive functioning, further supporting the notion of the relationship between cognition and olfactory performance. However, their chemosensory communication and well-being appeared not to be different from subjects with normosmia. Impaired olfactory function certainly has a severe impact on daily life but more so in individuals who are bothered with it and decide to seek treatment. The limited-to-no olfactory perception in the fraction of subjects who neither complain about it nor seek help in ENT clinics does not seem to have a major effect on their social, cognitive, emotional and health functioning. This article is part of the Theo Murphy meeting issue 'Olfactory communication in humans'.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.