Prevalence of smell loss in Parkinson's disease--a multicenter study.
Previous data on the prevalence of olfactory dysfunction in Parkinson's disease (PD) range from 45% to 90%. The present multicenter study aimed to provide data on the prevalence of smell loss in a large sample of PD patients from three independent populations. Olfactory sensitivity was tested in 400 patients from Australia, Germany, and The Netherlands by means of a psychophysical olfactory test, the "Sniffin' Sticks", which is comprised of 3 subtests of olfactory function. Out of the total number of patients 45.0% presented as functionally anosmic, 51.7% were hyposmic, whereas only 3.3% were normosmic. This indicates that 96.7% of PD patients present with significant olfactory loss when compared to young normosmic subjects. This figure falls to 74.5%, however, when adjusted to age-related norms. Thus, olfactory dysfunction should be considered as a reliable marker of the disease.
Haehner
A
A
Department of Otorhinolaryngology, University of Dresden Medical School, Dresden, Germany. antje.haehner@uniklinikum-dresden.de
Boesveldt
S
S
Berendse
H W
HW
Mackay-Sim
A
A
Fleischmann
J
J
Silburn
P A
PA
Johnston
A N
AN
Mellick
G D
GD
Herting
B
B
Reichmann
H
H
Hummel
T
T
D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009812:Odorants; D000857:Olfaction Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology*; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000145:classification / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015995:Prevalence; D011601:Psychophysics; D012737:Sex Factors; D013223:Statistics as Topic