Background and Objectives Although patients with chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) present a similar degree of olfactory dysfunction, their impairments in threshold, discrimination, and identification test results may vary. We investigated factors related to each of these components using the Korean version of the Sniffin’ Sticks test II in CRS patients.<br/>Subjects and Method A total of 120 CRS patients with olfactory dysfunction were enrolled and assigned to hyposmia and anosmia groups. Correlation between the three components were examined in both groups. We also subdivided patients into higher- and lower-score groups according to the threshold, discrimination, and identification scores within the hyposmia and anosmia groups to determine associated factors among the demographic factors, CRS severity on computed tomography (CT) and endoscopic findings.<br/>Results Threshold, discrimination, and identification scores were significantly correlated in hyposmia patients. Age [odds ratio (OR), 0.94] was associated with the threshold score, and the anterior olfactory cleft opacification score (OR, 1.31) on CT was associated with identification difficulties in hyposmia patients. The posterior olfactory cleft opacification score was associated with threshold (OR, 2.76) and identification difficulties (OR, 1.68) in anosmia patients. However, we could not identify significant risk factors for discrimination in both groups.<br/>Conclusion We demonstrated that the three components of the olfactory function test for CRS are significantly correlated in patients with hyposmia. Age was associated with threshold score in hyposmia patients and CRS severity, and with discrimination scores in both hyposmia and anosmia patients. These findings will help the understanding of pathophysiology of CRSrelated olfactory dysfunction.<br/>Korean J Otorhinolaryngol-Head Neck Surg 2020;63(8):358-68
Olfactory cleft mucus proteins associated with olfactory dysfunction in a cohort without chronic rhinosinusitis
