Chen Xiacan, Guo Wanjun, Yu Liangming, Luo Dan, Xie Leling, Xu Jiajun
Institute of Forensic Medicine, West China School of Basic Medical Sciences & Forensic Medicine, Sichuan University, Chengdu, People's Republic of China.
Mental Health Centre, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, People's Republic of China.
Neuropsychiatr Dis Treat. 2021 Sep 7;17:2877-2883. doi: 10.2147/NDT.S314857. eCollection 2021.
The findings of olfaction are inconsistent in anxiety disorders, and few studies have reported on the olfactory performance in generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). Therefore, we aim to investigate the olfactory function of patients with GAD and the association between olfactory function and anxiety symptoms.
We conducted a case-control study by selecting 107 patients with GAD and 107 healthy controls matched for sex and age, to investigate olfaction deficits in GAD and the association between anxiety severity and olfaction. All patients were treatment-naïve prior to the inclusion. Anxiety severity and olfaction were assessed by the Hamilton anxiety rating scale (HAM-A) and the Sniffin' Sticks test (SST), respectively. Partial correlations were used to analyze the relationship between olfaction and anxiety severity. False discovery rate (FDR) correction was used in multi-correlation analyses.
Compared with healthy controls, patients in the GAD group demonstrated odor threshold, discrimination and identification deficits. In the moderate/severe anxiety subgroup, discrimination score was significantly and inversely correlated with the somatic anxiety score (γ=-0.44, q = 0.03), and identification score was significantly and inversely correlated with the HAM-A total score (γ=-0.42, q= 0.04). The TDI score (the sum of threshold, discrimination and identification scores) was significantly and inversely correlated with the somatic (γ=-0.44, q = 0.04) and psychic (γ=-0.45, q = 0.04) anxiety scores in the moderate/severe anxiety subgroup.
This study demonstrated the olfactory impairment in patients with GAD and that poorer odor discrimination was correlated with greater severity of somatic anxiety.
焦虑症患者嗅觉检查结果不一致，很少有研究报道广泛性焦虑症（GAD）的嗅觉表现。因此，我们旨在研究GAD患者的嗅觉功能以及嗅觉功能与焦虑症状之间的关联。
我们进行了一项病例对照研究，选取107例GAD患者和107例年龄及性别匹配的健康对照，以研究GAD患者的嗅觉缺陷以及焦虑严重程度与嗅觉之间的关联。所有患者在纳入研究前均未接受过治疗。分别采用汉密尔顿焦虑量表（HAM-A）和嗅棒测试（SST）评估焦虑严重程度和嗅觉。采用偏相关分析嗅觉与焦虑严重程度之间的关系。多相关分析采用错误发现率（FDR）校正。
与健康对照相比，GAD组患者表现出气味阈值、辨别和识别缺陷。在中度/重度焦虑亚组中，辨别分数与躯体焦虑分数显著负相关（γ=-0.44，q = 0.03），识别分数与HAM-A总分显著负相关（γ=-0.42，q= 0.04）。在中度/重度焦虑亚组中，TDI分数（阈值、辨别和识别分数之和）与躯体（γ=-0.44，q = 0.04）和精神（γ=-0.45，q = 0.04）焦虑分数显著负相关。
本研究证明GAD患者存在嗅觉损害，较差的气味辨别能力与更严重的躯体焦虑相关。
