Prevalence of self-reported poor odor detection sensitivity: the Skövde population-based study.
OBJECTIVE
To enable adequate planning of ENT healthcare it is important to know the prevalence of olfactory dysfunction in the general population. Whether an individual will actually seek medical attention for olfactory dysfunction is likely to depend predominantly on his/her self-evaluation of the sense of smell. This motivated an investigation of the prevalences of self-reported poorer- and better-than-normal odor detection sensitivity in the general population.


METHODS
A random sample of 1900 adult inhabitants, stratified for age and gender, was drawn from the municipal population register of Skövde, Sweden. Subjects were asked to attend a structured interview concerning their self-evaluation of their odor detection sensitivity.


RESULTS
In total, 1387 volunteers (73% of the sample) were investigated. The overall prevalences of self-reported poorer- and better-than normal odor detection sensitivity were 15.3% and 17.4%, respectively. The prevalence of poorer sensitivity was found to increase with age, and the prevalence of better sensitivity was lower in men than women.


CONCLUSIONS
Considering the fairly high participation rate in this study and the fact that the population of Skövde is representative of the general Swedish population, the obtained prevalences can be considered representative of the general Swedish adult population.
Nordin
Steven
S
Department of Psychology, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden. steven.nordin@psy.umu.se
Brämerson
Annika
A
Bende
Mats
M
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D000857:Olfaction Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015995:Prevalence; D012650:Self Disclosure; D013548:Sweden / Q000453:epidemiology