Analysis of the clinical effect of olfactory training on olfactory dysfunction after upper respiratory tract infection

Abstract

Background: Olfactory dysfunction is a common symptom during otolaryngology outpatient service.

Objective: To explore the clinical effect of olfactory training on olfactory dysfunction after upper respiratory tract infection (URTI), and its influence factors.

Material and methods: A total of 60 confirmed cases of URTI-induced olfactory dysfunction were enrolled into the present study. The olfactory training lasted for 24 weeks. These patients were tested using Sniffin’ Sticks and threshold-discrimination-identification (TDI) composite scoring before treatment, and at 1, 3 and 6 months after treatment.

Results: It was found that URTI-induced olfactory dysfunction patients had more evident deterioration in odor identification ability. The effective rates of olfactory training on olfactory dysfunction at 1, 3 and 6 months after treatment were 1.67%, 26.67% and 41.67%, respectively. The TDI scores at the 3rd and 6th months, but not at the 1st month, were significantly higher, when compared to those before treatment. The course of diseases was a significant influence factor on the therapeutic effect of olfactory training (OR = 0.805, 95% CI: 0.696–0.931).

Conclusions: Olfactory training can efficiently cure URTI-induced olfactory dysfunction, and in particular, significantly improve the odor discrimination ability and odor identification ability.

Significance: Providing useful data for further research regarding olfactory dysfunction.

Chinese abstract

背景：嗅觉障碍是耳鼻咽喉科门诊常见症状。

目的：探讨嗅觉训练对上呼吸道感染（URTI）后嗅觉功能障碍的临床疗效及其影响因素。

材料与方法：本研究共纳入60例确诊的URTI引发的嗅觉功能障碍病例。嗅觉训练持续了24周。这些患者在治疗前和治疗后1、3和6个月分别使用嗅探棒和阈值-甄别-鉴定（TDI）复合评分进行测试。

结果：URTI致嗅觉障碍患者的气味识别能力明显下降。治疗后1个月、3个月和6个月的嗅觉功能障碍训练的有效率分别为1.67%、26.67%和41.67%。与治疗前相比, 第3个月和第6个月（而不是第1个月）的TDI评分明显更高。病程是影响嗅觉训练疗效的重要因素（OR = 0.805, 95%CI:0.696-0.931）。

结论：嗅觉训练能有效地治疗URTI引起的嗅觉功能障碍, 尤其能显著提高气味辨别能力和气味鉴定能力。

意义：为进一步研究嗅觉功能障碍提供有用的数据。

Keywords:

• Olfactory dysfunction
• olfactory training
• upper respiratory tract infection

Disclosure statement

The authors declared that they have no conflict of interest.