Association of alterations in smell and taste with depression in older adults

Abstract

ObjectiveExamine the relationship between depression and changes in smell or taste.Study DesignCross‐sectional analysis of 2011–2012 and 2013–2014 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES).MethodsWe examined 5,275 adults ≥40 years old who completed smell and taste questionnaires as well as a validated depression assessment instrument, the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ‐9). Analyses incorporated sampling weights to account for the complex sampling design and associations were analyzed using multivariate logistic regression adjusted for related demographics and socioeconomic data.ResultsThe prevalence of altered smell and taste was 23.0% (95% CI: 20.7–25.3%) and 11.9% (95% CI: 10.7–13.1%), respectively. Among those who met criteria for major depressive disorder, the prevalence of altered smell and taste was higher at 39.8% (95% CI: 33.4–46.1%) and 23.7% (95% CI: 18.7–28.7%), respectively. In a multivariate model adjusting for age, gender, education, major comorbidities, smoking history, heavy alcohol use, sinus disease, cold symptoms, and trauma history, adults ≥40 and <65 years old who reported alterations in smell (OR: 1.64, p = 0.004) and adults ≥40 years old who reported alterations in taste (OR: 1.77, p = 0.001) were more likely to meet criteria for major depressive disorder.ConclusionThere is a strong association between major depression and alterations in smell and taste among certain age groups in the general U.S. population. Primary care providers should screen for depression when patients report changes in smell or taste.Level of Evidence4.

Mood, Anxiety and Olfactory Dysfunction in COVID‐19: Evidence of Central Nervous System Involvement?

“…19 Chemosensory dysfunction, outside of the context of COVID-19, has been previously shown to be associated with decreased quality of life as well as anxiety and depression. 30,31 It is also described that depression may lead to OD. 32 However, in the setting of the COVID-19 pandemic and wide public recognition of the potential lethality of SARS-CoV-2 infection, we report here that the severities of classic and worrisome symptoms of COVID-19-such as fever, cough or SOB-were not associated with emotional disturbance while chemosensory dysfunction was.…”

Associations between Cadmium Exposure and Taste and Smell Dysfunction: Results from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), 2011–2014

“…Loss of the ability to taste and smell has a direct impact on safety and quality of life [2]. For example, plenty of recent reports suggest that individuals with taste and smell disorders are more likely to have depressive symptoms [3][4][5][6]. A recent study reported potentially decreased sexual desire among subjects with smell impairment and depressive symptoms [7].…”

Awareness of Olfactory Dysfunction in Subjective Cognitive Decline, Mild Cognitive Decline, and Alzheimer’s Disease

“…There was, however, no significant result during the pairwise group comparisons for this variable. Prior research showed a strong association between subjective smell impairment and major depression (Hur et al 2018). Furthermore, a review by Rochet et al argues that measured olfactory identification is often not impaired in depression (Rochet et al 2018).…”

“…Third, variables of cognitive decline, namely verbal memory and executive control, in addition to depressive symptoms, age, and gender, will be compared between formed groups of awareness of olfactory functioning in the study population. The awareness of one's own olfactory functioning is likely to be not only influenced by symptoms of depression and age, but also by cognitive decline, in a way that depressed patients tend to underestimate their abilities (Hur et al 2018;Rochet et al 2018), while the contrary is expected with increasing age and cognitive decline (Nordin et al 1995;Devanand et al 2000;Wehling et al 2011).…”