Abstract
Objectives
Many diseases with great prevalence in the population occur with disorders of smell funtction. However, assessment of olfactory function in patients with disorders of smell is frequently neglected in the otolaryngology routine consultation. One of the effects of tobacco consumption is a change in the nasal mucosa. It has been hypothesized that tobacco smoke consumption modifies olfactory levels of these people.
Methods
Prospective clinical study with 56 consecutive healthy volunteers, submitted to a previously validated protocol of olfactometry composed by a quantitative and a threshold test. Our population was constituted of an equal number of tobacco smokers and controls, between 16 and 78 years old (average 38,3 years), age and sex paired.
Results
The substance more frequently identified was naphthalene (94%), followed by menthol (88%), while the least times correctly identified had been the cinnamon and talcum (65%). The test of butanol showed a statistically significant difference (3.73±0.50 in smokers vs 4.34±1.00 in nonsmoking, p=0.02). This test presented a significant correlation with the smoking habit (r=-0.59, p< 0.01). The supraliminary test showed no significant differences between the 2 groups. There was no significant difference between genders.
Conclusions
We observed a significant statistical correlation between the tobacco smoking and the test of butanol, which confirms the subjective sense of former smokers when experiencing again the aromas that have been altered. Our study showed the quantitative difference imposed by tobacco smoking. Smokers presented lower olfaction levels than non-smokers, keeping, however, a similar discriminative ability.
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