Prevalence and Risk Factors of Self-Reported Smell and Taste Alterations: Results from the 2011-2012 US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES).
Chemosensory problems challenge health through diminished ability to detect warning odors, consume a healthy diet, and maintain quality of life. We examined the prevalence and associated risk factors of self-reported chemosensory alterations in 3603 community-dwelling adults (aged 40+ years), from the nationally representative, US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2011-2012. In this new NHANES component, technicians surveyed adults in the home about perceived smell and taste problems, distortions, and diminished abilities since age 25 (termed "alterations"), and chemosensory-related health risks and behaviors. The prevalence of self-reported smell alteration was 23%, including phantosmia at 6%; taste was 19%, including dysgeusia at 5%. Prevalence rates increased progressively with age, highest in those aged 80+ years (smell, 32%; taste, 27%). In multivariable logistic regression, controlling for sociodemographics, health behaviors, and chemosensory-related conditions, the strongest independent risk factor for smell alteration was sinonasal symptoms (odds ratio [OR] = 2.06; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.63-2.61), followed by heavy drinking, loss of consciousness from head injury, family income ≤110% poverty threshold, and xerostomia. For taste, the strongest risk factor was xerostomia (OR = 2.65; 95% CI: 1.97-3.56), followed by nose/facial injury, lower educational attainment, and fair/poor health. Self-reported chemosensory alterations are prevalent in US adults, supporting increased attention to decreasing their modifiable risks, managing safety/health consequences, and expanding chemosensory screening/testing and treatments.
Department of Allied Health Sciences, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT 06269, USA and.
Shristi
S
Rawal
Epidemiology & Statistics Program, National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD), National Institutes of Health (NIH), Bethesda, MD 20892, USA.
Howard J
HJ
Hoffman
Epidemiology & Statistics Program, National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD), National Institutes of Health (NIH), Bethesda, MD 20892, USA.
Kathleen E
KE
Bainbridge
Department of Allied Health Sciences, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT 06269, USA and.
Tania B
TB
Huedo-Medina
Department of Allied Health Sciences, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT 06269, USA and valerie.duffy@uconn.edu.
Valerie B
VB
Duffy
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009749:Nutrition Surveys; D012307:Risk Factors; D057566:Self Report; D012903:Smell; D013649:Taste
dry mouth; dysgeusia; head injury; health status; phantosmia