Depression Symptoms and Olfactory‐related Quality of Life

Abstract

Objectives: Patients with olfactory dysfunction (OD) frequently report symptoms of depression. The objective of this study was to determine how clinical characteristics and olfactory-related quality of life (QoL) measures associate with the likelihood for major depressive disorders (MDDs).Methods: A total of 192 OD patients were included. Olfactory function was measured using all three subtests of the Sniffn' Sticks test. Olfactory-related quality of life (QoL) was evaluated using the Questionnaires of Olfactory Dysfunction (QOD)-negative (NS) and -positive statement (PS). The likelihood for MDD was assessed using the Patients Health Questionnaire-2 (PHQ-2). Demographics and disease-specific variables (etiology and duration of OD) were collected. Univariate and multivariable analyses were used to associate disease-specific variables and the QOD with the outcome of the PHQ-2. Additionally, the predictive ability of the QOD-NS to predict depressive symptoms was calculated.Results: In univariate analysis, COVID-19 related smell loss, the QOD-NS, and the QOD-PS were significantly associated with the PHQ-2. In multivariable analyses adjusting for QoL measures, the QOD-NS (ß = 0.532, p < 0.001) and sinonasal OD (compared with postinfectious OD) were significantly associated with the PHQ-2 (ß = 0.146, p = 0.047). When omitting QoL measures from multivariable analyses, only COVID-19 related OD (compared with postinfectious OD) was significantly associated with the PHQ-2 (ß = 0.287, p = 0.009). A QOD-NS score > 20.5 had 70.13% sensitivity and 76.32% specificity for detecting symptoms of depression.Conclusion: Our results suggest that COVID-19 related OD might be associated with a higher likelihood for MDD. Furthermore, we showed that the QOD-NS score might be helpful to predict symptoms of depression in OD patients.

Long‐term quality‐of‐life impairment in patients with more than 1‐year COVID‐19–related olfactory dysfunction

“…Dysosmic patients demonstrated lower scores at the brief QOD-NS, confirming its usefulness in discriminating patients at a higher risk of QoL detriments related to OD. 10 A significant linear correlation between sVAS and SS (both TDI and SS subtests scores) was also observed in our analysis, replicating previous results. 4 A limit of the study is the lack of a control group of patients with no history of OD with or without previous COVID-19.…”

Impairment of quality of life due to COVID-19-induced long-term olfactory dysfunction

“…Recent studies have shown associations between olfactory-related quality of life and affective as well as cognitive dysfunctions. For example, COVID-19 related olfactory dysfunction has been related to mood disturbances ( Llana et al, 2023 ), a higher likelihood of depression ( Liu et al, 2022 ), as well as cognitive dysfunction ( Delgado-Alonso et al, 2022 ). The observed relationship between olfactory dysfunction and quality of life could therefore be mediated by other affective or cognitive symptoms.…”

The prevalence of sensory changes in post-COVID syndrome: A systematic review and meta-analysis

“…Smell and taste dysfunction has been consistency linked with decreases in quality of life ( 40 , 41 ), as has the presence of long-COVID ( 42 ). Furthermore, recent studies have found significant decreases in health-related quality of life in people with long-COVID syndrome ( 43 ), with one meta-analysis reporting that 58% of people with long-COVID suffering from poor quality of life ( 42 ).…”