Olfactory Performance among Hospital Residents

Rezende, Gustavo Lara; Sarmet, Max; Sousa, Gabrielle Everton; Krier, Felipe Carneiro; Parreira, Diderot Rodrigues; Kuckelhaus, Selma Aparecida

doi:10.1055/s-0040-1719122

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Original Article • Int. Arch. Otorhinolaryngol. 26 (01) • Jan-Mar 2022 • https://doi.org/10.1055/s-0040-1719122 copy

Olfactory Performance among Hospital Residents

Authorship SCIMAGO INSTITUTIONS RANKINGS

Abstract

Introduction

Smell plays an important role in the maintenance of health and quality of life of the general population. Health workers with olfactory impairment may not be able to help diagnose certain diseases, and subsequently increase the risk of hazardous events and mortality among those affected. ‘Odor learning’ requires repeated experiences with different smells to develop a discriminatory ability, and this is a process that takes years. Because of that, physicians of certain medical specialities have better odor detection than others.

Objective

To study the olfactory performance and associated factors of otorhinolaryngology residents compared with residents of different medical specialities in a representative sample of a tertiary hospital.

Methods

The University of Pennsylvania Smell Identification Test (UPSIT) was used to compare olfactory performance. Clinical and epidemiological data were collected among 42 hospital residents.

Results

Otorhinolaryngology residents presented an average UPSITscore of 35.0, and the other residents, a score of 32.8 (p = 0.02) Of all the residents, 40.5% showed some grade of olfactory impairment. Half of the females students in the first year of residency showed olfactory dysfunction. The multivariate analyses found age (p = 0.03; 95% confidence interval for β = 0.33) to be an independent predictor of the UPSIT score.

Conclusion

The present study demonstrated that otorhinolaryngology residents have greater olfactory capacity compared with other residents. Future studies should explore the relevant factors of olfactory impairment and its impact on quality of life in this population.

Keywords
olfactory test; dysosmia; residents; health workers

	Otorhinolaryngology residents	Other residents	p-value
N	21	21
Age (years)	27.9 2.5	27.7 2.7	0.70^a a Two-sample t-test;
University of Pennsylvania Smell Identification Test (UPSIT) score	35.0 2.5	32.8 3.9	0.02^a a Two-sample t-test;
Gender no. female (%)	11 (52.4)	11 (52.4)	1.00^b b Chi-squared test.
Comorbidity (%)	19.0	14.3	0.68^b b Chi-squared test.
Number of chronic use medication per individual, median	1	0	0.25^a a Two-sample t-test;
Nasal disease (%)	38.1	42.9	0.75^b b Chi-squared test.
Rhinitis (%)	19.0	33.3	0.33^b b Chi-squared test.
Continuous use of medication (%)	52.4	33.3	0.36^b b Chi-squared test.
Smoking (%)	4.8	19.0	0.15^b b Chi-squared test.

Variables	N	Age^* * average;	UPSIT score^* * average;	Standard deviation	Median	Minimum	Maximum	p-value
Residency program								0.02^a a two-sample t-test for the UPSIT scores;
Otorhinolaryngology	21	28	35.0	2.5	35	29	40
Others	21	27	32.8	3.9	34	26	39
Year of residency								0.72^b b Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney test for the UPSIT scores.
R1	18	27	33.8	3.7	34	26	40
R2	13	28	33.3	3.5	34	27	38
R3	10	29	34.9	3.2	35	27	39
R4	1	28	34.0	-	-	-	-
Residency type								0.23^b b Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney test for the UPSIT scores.
Clinical	15	27	32.8	4.2	34	26	39
Surgical	27	28	34.5	2.8	35	29	40

Variables	N	Mean score	Standard deviation	Median	Minimum	Maximum	p-value
Entire sample	42	33.9	3.4	35	26	40	-
Gender							0.54^a a Two-sample t-test;
Male	20	33.6	3.5	35	26	39
Female	22	34.2	3.5		27	40
Ethnicity							0.76^b b Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney test.
White Brazilian	31	34.1	3.3	35	27	39
Black Brazilian	1	-	-	-	-	-
Mixed Brazilian	10	33.2	4.2	34	26	40
Monthly household income							0.80^b b Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney test.
Group 3	16	33.9	2.7	34	29	38
Group 4	26	33.9	3.9	35	26	40
Comorbidity							0.46^b b Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney test.
Yes	7	34.5	4.0	35	29	39
No	35	33.8	3.4	34	26	40
Nasal disease							0.43^b b Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney test.
Yes	17	34.3	3.5	35	27	39
No	25	33.6	3.5	34	26	40
Rhinitis							0.26^b b Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney test.
Yes	11	33.0	3.6	34	27	39
No	31	34.2	3.4	35	26	40
Smoking							0.67^b b Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney test.
Yes	5	34.6	3.8	35	29	39
No	37	33.8	3.4	35	26	40

Degree of olfactory loss	Normosmia	Mild microsmia	Moderate microsmia	p-value
Gender				0.21^a a Chi-squared test.
Male	70.0	10.0	20.0
Female	50.0	31.8	18.2
Residency group				0.18^a a Chi-squared test.
Otorhinolaryngology residents	66.7	23.8	9.5
Other residents	52.4	19.0	28.6
Year of residency				0.51^a a Chi-squared test.
R1	50.0	33.3	16.7
R2	53.8	23.1	23.1
R3	80.0	-	20.0
R4	100.0	-	-

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[1] Address for correspondence Gustavo Lara Rezende, MD, PhD, SEPS 709/909, CMJA, sala 223 A, Brasília, DF, 70390-095, Brazil (e-mail: glararezende@gmail.com).