Altered olfactory acuity in the morbidly obese.
BACKGROUND
Obese individuals have been reported to have a heightened desire for and ability to identify sweets when compared with leaner persons. Smell, like taste, may also be altered in obese persons compared with leaner subjects. This study was designed to determine if the sense of smell is different between morbidly obese and moderately obese individuals.


METHODS
101 adult volunteers undergoing preoperative evaluation completed the 12-item Cross-Cultural Smell Identification Test (CC-SIT) before surgical intervention. Age, BMI, and smoking history were also obtained.


RESULTS
101 subjects completed the preoperative CC-SIT (87 female, 14 male). Mean age of the subjects was 40 +/- 12 years. Mean BMI was 42.5 +/- 12.5 kg/m(2). 46 subjects (46%) had a BMI >45. 21 were smokers (21%). 9 subjects (9%), all female non-smokers, had a CC-SIT score representing olfactory dysfunction. Subjects with BMI >45 were more likely to have olfactory dysfunction than subjects with BMI <45 (16% vs 4%, P <0.05).


CONCLUSIONS
Morbidly obese individuals are more likely than moderately obese individuals to demonstrate CC-SIT scores consistent with olfactory dysfunction. The reason for this is unclear but is probably related to metabolic changes occurring in morbidly obese individuals.
The University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, Nebraska 68198-1225, USA. berichardson@unmc.edu
Brynn E
BE
Richardson
Eric A
EA
Vander Woude
Ranjan
R
Sudan
Jon S
JS
Thompson
Donald A
DA
Leopold
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009767:Obesity, Morbid / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology*; D000857:Olfaction Disorders / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis; D012903:Smell; D012907:Smoking