Changes of olfactory abilities in relation to age: odor identification in more than 1400 people aged 4 to 80 years

Abstract

The currently presented large dataset (n = 1,422) consists of results that have been assembled over the last 8 years at science fairs using the 16-item odor identification part of the “Sniffin’ Sticks”. In this context, the focus was on olfactory function in children; in addition before testing, we asked participants to rate their olfactory abilities and the patency of the nasal airways. We reinvestigated some simple questions, e.g., differences in olfactory odor identification abilities in relation to age, sex, self-ratings of olfactory function and nasal patency. Three major results evolved: first, consistent with previously published reports, we found that identification scores of the youngest and the oldest participants were lower than the scores obtained by people aged 20–60. Second, we observed an age-related increase in the olfactory abilities of children. Moreover, the self-assessed olfactory abilities were related to actual performance in the smell test, but only in adults, and self-assessed nasal patency was not related to the “Sniffin’ Sticks” identification score.

Development of the Arabic version of the “Sniffin’ Sticks” odor identification test

“…This might have resulted from the fact that subjects assessed their olfactory ability themselves, and such assessment may not have been very accurate. Previous reports found that people often confuse nasal patency with olfactory abilities [19], and that self-assessments are accurate only when subjects perceive their sense of smell as bad or very bad [18]. We observed similar values of the 10th percentile of scores obtained by healthy participants comparing to results obtained in Czech Republic [20], Taiwan [11], Poland [21] and Germany [6], except for the oldest group ([55 years).…”

“…Finally, we compared the identification scores of normosmic subjects and people with olfactory disorders, controlling also for sex of the participants. Similar to former studies, we did not observe any differences in the ability to recognize odors between men and women [11,12], and we found significant differences between healthy subjects and people reporting olfactory disorders [18]. Although our analyses revealed a main effect of the degree of impairment on the SST identification test result, there was no significant difference between controls and patients with mild olfactory disorders.…”

Effects of “trigeminal training” on trigeminal sensitivity and self-rated nasal patency

“…Here, we observed that on average patients were over 20 years older than their healthy controls. It is commonly acknowledged that both olfactory [36] and trigeminal [37, 38] function decrease with age. Although we observed positive effects of “trigeminal training” in both groups, the efficiency of the “trigeminal training” in relation to age groups should be a matter of future interest with a special focus on replication of the current results with groups of more similar age.…”

Olfaction deterioration in cognitive disorders in the elderly

“…The basis of this sensitivity is found in the olfactory receptors (OR), a large class of G protein-coupled receptors functioning together to allow discrimination among a wide range of volatile and soluble molecules [6]. As humans, we are able to detect subtle changes in our physical and social environment, but sensitivity of this sense significantly varies among individuals [7]. In fact, although olfactory loss is not always a complaint in the elderly, many studies show that the incidence of decreased olfactory function increases significantly with age.…”