Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina.
Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Geisinger Health System, Danville, Pennsylvania.
Am J Rhinol Allergy. 2021 May;35(3):334-340. doi: 10.1177/1945892420958365. Epub 2020 Sep 11.
Olfactory dysfunction (OD) has been reported to impact social interactions. However, the relationship between OD and loneliness has received little attention. The purpose of this study was to determine the association between OD and loneliness, controlling for patient factors.
Subjects without otolaryngic complaints were enrolled and olfactory function was assessed using: Sniffin' Sticks test to measure threshold, discrimination and identification (TDI), Questionnaire of Olfactory Disorders Negative Statements (QOD-NS) and 9 - item Olfactory-Visual Analogue Scale (VAS). Loneliness was assessed using the De Jong Gierveld (DJG) and University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) loneliness scales. Bivariate analysis was performed followed by regression analysis, controlling for confounders.
In total, 221 subjects were included with a mean age of 50.5 years (range 20 to 93), 133 (60.2%) females and 161 (72.9%) white. Mean TDI score was 29.3 (7.0) and 49.5% of the cohort was dysosmic. Using DJG, 36.4% of the cohort were classified as lonely, whereas 35.0% were lonely using UCLA. Olfactory measures were significantly associated with DJG, including TDI ( = -0.03, p = 0.050), olfactory discrimination ( = -0.111, p = 0.005), QOD-NS ( = 0.058, p < 0.001) and olfactory-VAS ( = 0.032, p < 0.001). UCLA scores were significantly associated with QOD-NS (PR 1.061 [CI 1.018-1.107], p = 0.005) and olfactory-VAS scores (PR 1.027, [CI 1.007-1.049], p = 0.009). After controlling for confounders, the association between DJG and olfactory discrimination, as well as DJG and olfactory-VAS remained significant.
In this community-based sample of older adults, both OD and loneliness were common. Those subjects with worse olfactory function were more likely to report loneliness. Further research is necessary to establish causality, as well as explore the role of depression.
嗅觉障碍（OD）已被报道会影响社交互动。然而，OD 与孤独感之间的关系尚未得到充分关注。本研究的目的是确定 OD 与孤独感之间的关联，同时控制患者因素。
招募无耳鼻喉科投诉的受试者，并使用嗅觉测试工具：嗅觉辨别测试（Sniffin' Sticks）来评估嗅觉阈值、辨别力和识别力（TDI），嗅觉障碍负向陈述问卷（QOD-NS）和 9 项嗅觉-视觉类比量表（VAS）。使用德容吉维尔德（DJG）和加州大学洛杉矶分校（UCLA）孤独感量表评估孤独感。进行了双变量分析，然后进行了回归分析，同时控制了混杂因素。
共纳入 221 名受试者，平均年龄为 50.5 岁（范围 20 至 93 岁），其中 133 名（60.2%）为女性，161 名（72.9%）为白人。平均 TDI 评分为 29.3（7.0），49.5%的患者嗅觉异常。使用 DJG，49.5%的患者被归类为孤独，而使用 UCLA 量表，35.0%的患者孤独。嗅觉测量与 DJG 显著相关，包括 TDI（ = -0.03，p = 0.050）、嗅觉辨别力（ = -0.111，p = 0.005）、QOD-NS（ = 0.058，p < 0.001）和嗅觉-VAS（ = 0.032，p < 0.001）。UCLA 评分与 QOD-NS（PR 1.061 [CI 1.018-1.107]，p = 0.005）和嗅觉-VAS 评分（PR 1.027，[CI 1.007-1.049]，p = 0.009）显著相关。在控制混杂因素后，DJG 与嗅觉辨别力以及 DJG 与嗅觉-VAS 之间的关联仍然显著。
在本项基于社区的老年人群研究中，OD 和孤独感均很常见。嗅觉功能越差的患者，越有可能报告孤独感。需要进一步研究以确定因果关系，并探讨抑郁的作用。
