ArticleInternational forum of allergy & rhinology2024
The association between olfactory subdomains and frailty: A prospective case‒control study investigation.
Article in International forum of allergy & rhinology, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.
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Who cites it
5 citing papers in PubMed.
- Dysfunction in Olfactory Identification and Physical Function Decline in Older Adults.JAMA otolaryngology-- head & neck surgery · 2026Article
- Moving Beyond Odor Identification: Defining Olfactory Subdomain Cutoffs in Frailty Risk Assessment.International forum of allergy & rhinology · 2025Article
- Olfactory impairment associated with reduced physical capacity 24 months after COVID-19.Brain, behavior, & immunity - health · 2025Article
- Longitudinal Association of Olfactory Function with Frailty in Older Adults: The Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study.The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences · 2025Article
- Reply to: Confounders in the association between olfactory subdomains and frailty.International forum of allergy & rhinology · 2024Article
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Authors and funding
7 authors.
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Abstract
backgroundAmidst the rise of frailty among a globally aging population, olfactory decline has emerged as a harbinger of frailty and mortality in population-level studies. However, the relationships between frailty and the olfactory subdomains of identification (OI), discrimination (OD), and threshold (OT) remain unexplored. This study prospectively examined the association between olfactory subdomains and the physical frailty phenotype (PFP) to investigate olfactory evaluation as a means of frailty screening.
methodsA case‒control study of 45 frail and 45 non-frail individuals matched by age and sex. OT, OD, OI (range 0‒16), and composite sum (threshold, discrimination, and identification scores [TDI], range 0‒48) were measured with Sniffin' Sticks. PFP was defined by presence of three or more criteria: physical inactivity, self-reported exhaustion, muscle weakness, slow gait, and unintentional weight loss. Conditional logistic regression evaluated associations between olfactory subdomains and frailty.
resultsNinety individuals with mean age of 83.1 ± 4.9 years, 60% female (n = 54), and 87.8% white (n = 79) were included. Olfactory scores were significantly lower in the frail group for OI (9.2 vs. 12.1, p < 0.001), OD (8.1 vs. 11.6, p < 0.001), OT (4.4 vs. 8.5, p < 0.001), and TDI (21.7 vs. 32.2, p < 0.001) than in the non-frail group. A single-point decrease in olfactory score was associated with increased odds of frailty in OT (odds ratio [OR]: 2.21, 95% confidence interval: [1.22, 3.98]), OD (OR: 2.19, 95% CI: [1.32, 3.65]), OI (OR: 2.29, 95% CI: [1.19, 4.39]), and TDI (OR: 1.54, 95% CI: [1.14, 2.08]).
conclusionThe robust association between olfactory subdomain scores and frailty suggests that olfaction may be an accessible signifier of frailty. Future studies should investigate this relationship longitudinally to assess predictive relationships.
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