KBB-Forum 2019 , Cilt 18, Sayı 4

THE OLFACTORY ABILITIES OF SMOKERS

Ayşe Seçil KAYALI DİNÇ 1, MD; Melih ÇAYÖNÜ 1, MD; Tijen ŞENGEZER 2, MD; Muammer Melih ŞAHİN 1, MD;
1Ankara Numune Eğitim ve Araştırma Hastanesi, Kulak Burun Boğaz, Ankara, Turkey
2Ankara Numune Eğitim ve Araştırma Hastanesi, Aile Hekimliği, Ankara, Turkey Objectives: The present study aims to investigate the olfactory functions of the smokers and to evaluate the effect of the duration of smoking and the amount of cigarette that smoked per day on the olfactory functions.

Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study including 68 smokers. All participants were performed Sniffin" Sticks olfactory testing. The duration of smoking and the amount of cigarette that smoked per day were also noted.

Results: The mean age of the participants was 42.4 ± 11.6 years. The majority of the smokers exhibited an overall decreased olfactory function as judged for the TDI score: functional anosmia in 7 (10.3%) participants; hyposmia in 54 (79.4%); and normosmia in 7 (10.3%). The olfactory functions had a negative correlation with the duration of smoking, whereas a similar correlation was not found between the cigarettes smoked per day and olfactory functions.

Conclusions: Smokers were found to be decreased olfactory abilities when their olfactory scores were compared to normative data. Also, an increase in smoking duration leads to a significant deterioration in the odor discrimination and odor identification functions. Keywords : Smoking, Sniffin' Sticks, olfaction, odor discrimination, odor identification