xRead - Olfactory Disorders (September 2023)

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PATEL et al.

TABLE IV.2 (Continued) Study Year

LOE Study design Population

Outcome

Conclusions

High olfactory sensitivity relates to higher pleasantness of sexual activities and higher frequency of orgasms inwomen Patients differed only slightly from controls in terms of enhanced social insecurity, increased risk for depressive symptoms, and household accidents 29% of patients reported decreased sexual desire after olfactory loss, predicted by depressive symptoms and OF; no

Bendas, Hummel, andCroy 56

2018

2

Cross-sectional

Healthy

Link between odor

individuals

threshold and sexual desire, sexual experience, and sexual performance

Croy

2012

2

Cross-sectional

Congenital anosmic

Link between olfactory impairment and functions of daily life

et al 57

patients and HCs

Schäfer et al 58

Link between olfactory

2019

2

Cross-sectional

Patients with

impairment and sexual desire

smell disorder and healthy individuals

differences in standardized questionnaire

Oleszkiewicz et al 37

2020 2

Cohort

Individuals declaring

Undetected olfactory loss and relationship to cognitive performance and well-being

59 of 203 individuals with impaired olfaction; differences between

normal sense of smell

affected and nonaffected individuals in

cognitive functioning but not in well-being and chemosensory communication

HC = healthy control; OD = olfactory dysfunction; OF = olfactory function; QOL = quality of life; TBI = traumatic brain injury.

feelings. 47,48 OD is thus likely to be associated with deficits in receiving, processing, and interpretation of such inter personal sensory information. Patients with olfactory dis orders frequently complain about impairment in social situations, isolation, or feelings of social insecurity. 20,25,49 This is of significant relevance in the context of intimate relationships, such as relationships between parent and child or between romantic partners. 30,50 Regarding the for mer, parents report the body odor of their child as an affective and instrumental cue, 48 as infant odor is asso ciated with neural correlates of reward in the maternal brain. 51,52 The latter was studied by Mahmut and Croy 53 who reported evidence for the involvement of olfaction in the “initiation, maintenance, and breakdown of roman tic relationships.” As body odors signal attractiveness 54,55 or mediate sexual experience 56 in normosmic individuals, dysosmic patients exhibit a reduced number of sexual part ners and experience enhanced partnership insecurity, 57 as well as reduced sexual desire, which can affect inti macy and pleasure. 58 The reduced self-confidence in social

domains may hamper both the quality of established rela tionships and also the development of new relationships, thus increasing risk of social isolation, 59,60 which, in turn, might be a predictor for depressive symptoms. However, again, this association has only been found for individu als troubled enough by their olfactory impairment to seek professional help, and not by those who are unaware and unaffected by their deficit. 37 OD can affect interpersonal relationships and emotional state. Aggregate grade of evidence : B (Level 1: one study; Level 2: 20 studies; Level 3: five studies; Level 4: 12 studies). B Safety Chemosensation plays a critical role for all organisms, from single-celled amoebas to higher-level organisms such as humans, to respond to their environments. In