Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, University Hospital Halle (Saale), Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Halle (Saale), Germany.
Department of Otorhinolaryngology (ENT), Head and Neck Surgery, Military Hospital Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany.
PLoS One. 2020 Oct 13;15(10):e0240537. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0240537. eCollection 2020.
Taste and smell are important for occupational performance and quality of life. Previous studies suggested that the function of these senses might be influenced by ambient pressure and noise. This knowledge would be helpful for divers, submarine crews, or mine workers. The present study aimed to investigate the effects of noise and hyperbaric pressure on olfactory and gustatory functions.
This prospective controlled study included 16 healthy male divers. Inside a hyperbaric chamber, participants performed olfactory and gustatory function tests at sea level pressure and at 2 bar pressure. The olfaction threshold, and the discrimination and identification of odorants were measured with validated ´Sniffin sticks´. Taste identification and the gustation threshold scores were examined with validated filter paper strips. Tests were performed under two conditions: noise reduction (silence) and white noise stimulation presented at 70 dB sound pressure level.
The results showed that normobaric and hyperbaric ambient pressures did not significantly affect olfactory or gustatory function. Moreover, noise had no relevant impact on taste or odor sensation. The odor identification score was not influenced in hyperbaric conditions, and the odor threshold score was not influenced by ambient noise or both barometric conditions. The only taste modality affected by hyperbaric conditions was the sensitivity to salty taste, but it was not significant.
We concluded that hyperbaric and noisy environments have no influence on gustatory and olfactory function. From a practical point of view, the influence of pressure in moderate hyperbaric occupations should be negligible.
味觉和嗅觉对于职业表现和生活质量至关重要。先前的研究表明，这些感觉的功能可能会受到环境压力和噪声的影响。这些知识对于潜水员、潜艇船员或矿工来说将非常有帮助。本研究旨在调查噪声和高压环境对嗅觉和味觉功能的影响。
本前瞻性对照研究纳入了 16 名健康男性潜水员。在高压舱内，参与者在海平面压力和 2 巴压力下进行嗅觉和味觉功能测试。使用经过验证的“Sniffin 棒”测量嗅觉阈值以及气味物质的辨别和识别能力。使用经过验证的滤纸条检查味觉识别和味觉阈值评分。在两种条件下进行测试：降噪（安静）和 70 分贝声压级的白噪声刺激。
结果表明，常压和高压环境压力均不会显著影响嗅觉或味觉功能。此外，噪声对味觉或嗅觉感知没有影响。在高压条件下，气味识别评分不受影响，而气味阈值评分不受环境噪声或两种气压条件的影响。唯一受高压条件影响的味觉模式是对咸味觉的敏感性，但并不显著。
我们得出结论，高压和嘈杂的环境不会影响味觉和嗅觉功能。从实际意义上讲，在中等高压环境中，压力的影响应该可以忽略不计。
