Allergic rhinitis causes loss of smell in children: The OLFAPEDRIAL study.
The objective of the OLFAPEDRIAL study was to assess the olfactory dysfunction in allergic paediatric population, which has been scarcely studied.



Observational, cross-sectional and multicentre study evaluated the sense of smell in untreated allergic rhinitis (AR) paediatric patients aged 6-12 years.



Forty-four per cent (551 of 1260) of children with AR reported smell dysfunction, with both loss of smell frequency (52.1%, p < 0.001) and intensity (0.75 ± 0.84, p < 0.0001) being more frequent in patients with persistent than intermittent AR (38.0% and 0.51 ± 0.73, respectively). In addition, both loss of smell frequency and intensity increased according to disease severity (m-ARIA classification) but always being significantly higher in persistent (p < 0.0001) than in intermittent AR.



Children with allergic rhinitis present a mild-moderate loss of smell frequency and intensity which is clearly related to the disease duration and severity. The loss of smell can be considered, as in adults, a clinical marker of disease severity.
Unitat de Rinologia i Clínica de l'Olfacte, Servei d'Otorinolaringologia, IDIBAPS, Hospital Clínic, Barcelona, Spain.|Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red en Enfermedades Respiratorias (CIBERES), Barcelona, Spain.
Cristóbal
C
Langdon
Unitat de Rinologia i Clínica de l'Olfacte, Servei d'Otorinolaringologia, IDIBAPS, Hospital Clínic, Barcelona, Spain.|Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red en Enfermedades Respiratorias (CIBERES), Barcelona, Spain.
José María
JM
Guilemany
Unitat de Rinologia i Clínica de l'Olfacte, Servei d'Otorinolaringologia, IDIBAPS, Hospital Clínic, Barcelona, Spain.
Meritxell
M
Valls
Unitat de Rinologia i Clínica de l'Olfacte, Servei d'Otorinolaringologia, IDIBAPS, Hospital Clínic, Barcelona, Spain.|Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red en Enfermedades Respiratorias (CIBERES), Barcelona, Spain.
Isam
I
Alobid
Unitat d'Al.lèrgia, Servei de Pneumologia i Al.lèrgia Respiratòria, IDIBAPS, Hospital Clínic, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.|Red de Investigación de Reacciones Adversas a Alergenos y Fármacos (RIRAAF), Barcelona, Spain.
Joan
J
Bartra
Servicio de Inmunoalergia, Complejo Asistencial Universitario de Salamanca, IBSAL, Salamanca, Spain.
Ignacio
I
Dávila
Unidad de Rinitis y Asma, UGC ORL, Hospital de Jerez, Cádiz, Spain.
Alfonso
A
Del Cuvillo
Red de Investigación de Reacciones Adversas a Alergenos y Fármacos (RIRAAF), Barcelona, Spain.|Departamento de Alergología e Inmunología Clínica, Clínica Universidad de Navarra, Pamplona, Spain.
Marta
M
Ferrer
Servicio de Alergología, Hospital de Basurto, Bilbao, Spain.
Ignacio
I
Jáuregui
Facultad de Medicina, Hospital Universitario Arnau de Vilanova, Universidad Católica de Valencia 'San Vicente Mártir', Valencia, Spain.
Javier
J
Montoro
Servicio de Alergia, Fundación Jiménez Díaz, Madrid, Spain.
Joaquín
J
Sastre
Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red en Enfermedades Respiratorias (CIBERES), Barcelona, Spain.|Unitat d'Al.lèrgia, Servei de Pneumologia i Al.lèrgia Respiratòria, IDIBAPS, Hospital Clínic, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
Antonio
A
Valero
Unitat de Rinologia i Clínica de l'Olfacte, Servei d'Otorinolaringologia, IDIBAPS, Hospital Clínic, Barcelona, Spain.|Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red en Enfermedades Respiratorias (CIBERES), Barcelona, Spain.
Joaquim
J
Mullol
D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D018450:Disease Progression; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D000857:Olfaction Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D065631:Rhinitis, Allergic / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D012903:Smell; D013030:Spain / Q000453:epidemiology
Allergic Rhinitis and its Impact on Asthma; allergic rhinitis; loss of smell; olfaction