SynthesisEuropean archives of oto-rhino-laryngology : official journal of the European Federation of Oto-Rhino-Laryngological Societies (EUFOS) : affiliated with the German Society for Oto-Rhino-Laryngology - Head and Neck Surgery2024
The efficacy of olfactory training in improving olfactory function: a meta-analysis.
Synthesis in European archives of oto-rhino-laryngology : official journal of the European Federation of Oto-Rhino-Laryngological Societies (EUFOS) : affiliated with the German Society for Oto-Rhino-Laryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
10 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Treatment of COVID-19 Associated Olfactory Dysfunction: A Systematic Review.Current allergy and asthma reports · 2024Pooled it
- Retronasal Olfactory Function After Olfactory Training: A Prospective Single-Arm Study.Clinical otolaryngology : official journal of ENT-UK ; official journal of Netherlands Society for Oto-Rhino-Laryngology & Cervico-Facial Surgery · 2026Article
- Article
- Olfactory Decline in Elderly at High Altitudes: A Narrative Review.International journal of general medicine · 2026Review
- Article
- Prospective Randomized Controlled Trial of the Impact of Olfactory Training on Cognitive and Emotional Function in Individuals with Parkinson Disease.Archives of rehabilitation research and clinical translation · 2025Article
- Potential role of terpenes in recovery from olfactory dysfunction with olfactory training: a review.Molecular biology reports · 2025Review
- Olfactory training enhances semantic verbal fluency in healthy older adults, but only for individuals with low baseline performance.Chemical senses · 2025Article
- Maximizing Participation in Olfactory Training in a Sample with Post-COVID-19 Olfactory Loss.Brain sciences · 2024Article
- Mind your nose: A randomized controlled trial of olfactory-based memory training for older people with subjective cognitive decline.Alzheimer's & dementia (New York, N. Y.)Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposeStudy the efficacy of olfactory training in smell recovery.
methodsAn extensive search was performed through different databases in order to find articles analyzing the efficacy of olfactory training as a treatment for olfactory dysfunction. Methodological quality of primary studies within the final sample was assessed following PRISMA guidelines. Standardized mean differences in pre-post olfactory training groups, and also in experimental-control and pre-follow up if possible, were computed by Hedges' g effect size statistic. Each effect size was weighted by its inverse variance.
resultsFinal sample was composed of 36 articles (45 pre-post effect sizes). Contrasts were performed separately for odor identification, odor discrimination, odor threshold and general olfactory function. Moderate to large and heterogeneous effect was obtained for olfactory function (g = 0.755, k = 45, SE = 0.093, CI 95% = [0.572, 0.937]), different moderators had a significant effects, such as, training duration, age and anosmia diagnosis.
conclusionOlfactory training was found to have a positive and significant effect on rehabilitating the olfactory function.
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Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
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.