ArticlePloS one2014
Olfactory dysfunction predicts 5-year mortality in older adults.
Article in PloS one, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to 6 registered trials, which are not on this map. Cited by 190 papers, 8 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Correlation of Preoperative Olfactory Identification Function With Preoperative Frailty and With Postoperative Complications and Mortality Following Elective Surgery
Correlation of Preoperative Global Olfactory Function With Frailty, Preoperative Cognitive Status, Postoperative Neurocognitive Disorders and Mortality Following Elective Surgery
Smell in Covid-19 and Efficacy of Nasal Theophylline
Fluvoxamine to Augment Olfactory Recovery For Long COVID-19 Parosmia (FluCOP Trial)
Smell in COVID-19 and Efficacy of Nasal Theophylline 3
A Single-Arm Study to Evaluate the Feasibility of CYR-064 Theophylline Nasal Spray for the Treatment of Parkinson's Disease Related Hyposmia and Anosmia
Who cites it
190 citing papers in PubMed, 8 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Olfactory dysfunction and all-cause mortality: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Journal of global health · 2026Pooled it
- Does Olfactory Training Improve Brain Function and Cognition? A Systematic Review.Neuropsychology review · 2024Pooled it
- Association of Olfactory Impairment With All-Cause Mortality: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.JAMA otolaryngology-- head & neck surgery · 2022Pooled it
- Psychophysical chemosensory dysfunction in eating disorders: a qualitative systematic review.Eating and weight disorders : EWD · 2022Pooled it
- Prevalence of Olfactory Dysfunction in Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19): A Meta-analysis of 27,492 Patients.The Laryngoscope · 2021Pooled it
- The Prevalence of Olfactory Dysfunction in the General Population: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.American journal of rhinology & allergy · 2021Pooled it
- Treatment of post-viral olfactory dysfunction: an evidence-based review with recommendations.International forum of allergy & rhinology · 2020Pooled it
- Smoking and olfactory dysfunction: A systematic literature review and meta-analysis.The Laryngoscope · 2017Pooled it
- Efficacy and Safety of Saline Nasal Irrigation Plus Theophylline for Treatment of COVID-19-Related Olfactory Dysfunction: The SCENT2 Phase 2 Randomized Clinical Trial.JAMA otolaryngology-- head & neck surgery · 2022Trial
- Aging-related olfactory loss is associated with olfactory stem cell transcriptional alterations in humans.The Journal of clinical investigation · 2022Trial
- Olfactory identification deficits and increased mortality in the community.Annals of neurology · 2015Trial
- Smell Changes and Efficacy of Nasal Theophylline (SCENT) irrigation: A randomized controlled trial for treatment of post-viral olfactory dysfunction.American journal of otolaryngologyTrial
- Electrical stimulation of the trigeminal nerve improves olfaction in healthy individuals: A randomized, double-blind, sham-controlled trial.Brain stimulationTrial
- Epidemiology of olfactory dysfunction in China: a nationwide population-based cross-sectional study.Annals of medicine · 2026Article
- Remote Screening for Age-Related Olfactory Dysfunction Using the 4-Item Concise Aging Adults Smell Test.International forum of allergy & rhinology · 2026Article
- Olfactory-Related Quality of Life After Endoscopic Transsphenoidal Surgery.Laryngoscope investigative otolaryngology · 2026Article
- Therapeutic effect of intranasal nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide in the restoration of olfactory dysfunction.Experimental & molecular medicine · 2026Article
- The Need to Promote Olfactory Health in Public Health Agendas Across the Globe.Clinical otolaryngology : official journal of ENT-UK ; official journal of Netherlands Society for Oto-Rhino-Laryngology & Cervico-Facial Surgery · 2026Review
- Mettl3-mediated m6A disruption of olfactory bulb glutamatergic metabolism homeostasis via the Wnt pathway in aging leads to olfactory dysfunction.Cellular and molecular life sciences : CMLS · 2026Article
- Olfactory dysfunction and increased systemic immune inflammation index in patients with atrial fibrillation.Biomolecules & biomedicine · 2026Article
130 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Prediction of mortality has focused on disease and frailty, although antecedent biomarkers may herald broad physiological decline. Olfaction, an ancestral chemical system, is a strong candidate biomarker because it is linked to diverse physiological processes. We sought to determine if olfactory dysfunction is a harbinger of 5-year mortality in the National Social Life, Health and Aging Project [NSHAP], a nationally representative sample of older U.S. adults. 3,005 community-dwelling adults aged 57-85 were studied in 2005-6 (Wave 1) and their mortality determined in 2010-11 (Wave 2). Olfactory dysfunction, determined objectively at Wave 1, was used to estimate the odds of 5-year, all cause mortality via logistic regression, controlling for demographics and health factors. Mortality for anosmic older adults was four times that of normosmic individuals while hyposmic individuals had intermediate mortality (p<0.001), a "dose-dependent" effect present across the age range. In a comprehensive model that included potential confounding factors, anosmic older adults had over three times the odds of death compared to normosmic individuals (OR, 3.37 [95%CI 2.04, 5.57]), higher than and independent of known leading causes of death, and did not result from the following mechanisms: nutrition, cognitive function, mental health, smoking and alcohol abuse or frailty. Olfactory function is thus one of the strongest predictors of 5-year mortality and may serve as a bellwether for slowed cellular regeneration or as a marker of cumulative toxic environmental exposures. This finding provides clues for pinpointing an underlying mechanism related to a fundamental component of the aging process.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.