Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2023 Feb 15:323:741-747.
doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2022.12.049. Epub 2022 Dec 15.

Olfactory-related quality of life impacts psychological distress in people with COVID-19: The affective implications of olfactory dysfunctions

Vincenzo Bochicchio  1 , Selene Mezzalira  2 , Nelson Mauro Maldonato  3 , Elena Cantone  4 , Cristiano Scandurra  5
Affiliations

Olfactory-related quality of life impacts psychological distress in people with COVID-19: The affective implications of olfactory dysfunctions

Vincenzo Bochicchio et al. J Affect Disord. .

Abstract

Background: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) often causes chemosensory impairment, and olfactory dysfunctions may have negative consequences on psychological distress. This study aimed at assessing which dimension of perceived olfactory disfunctions (i.e., subjective olfactory capability, smell-related problems, or olfactory-related quality of life [QoL]) was most associated with psychological distress in people diagnosed with COVID-19.

Methods: 364 participants (65 men and 299 women) diagnosed with COVID-19 on average 7 months prior to the beginning of the study were recruited between June 5 and 21, 2021, to take part in an online cross-sectional survey. Participants answered questions on demographics, clinical factors, perceived olfactory functioning, and psychological distress. Hierarchical multiple linear regression analysis was conducted, assessing the role of demographics, clinical factors, and perceived olfactory functioning dimensions on psychological distress.

Results: More than half of the participants met the cut-off for all perceived olfactory dysfunctions scales and psychological distress. Being women, smoker, with comorbidities, and greater severity of COVID-19 symptoms were associated with higher scores on psychological distress. Among perceived olfactory functioning scales, only impairment in olfaction QoL was associated with psychological distress.

Limitations: Limitations concerned the cross-sectional nature of the study and the unbalanced sample in terms of gender.

Conclusions: The study confirmed the core intertwining between mood, perceived QoL, and olfactory functioning, showing how impairments in olfactory processing are strongly correlated with psychological distress through the impact they have on the perceived QoL.

Keywords: Affective disorders; Anosmia; COVID-19; Hyposmia; Psychological distress; Quality of life.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

References

    1. Adorni F., Prinelli F., Bianchi F., Giacomelli A., Pagani G., Bernacchia D., Rusconi S., Maggi S., Trevisan C., Noale M., Molinaro S., Bastiani L., Fortunato L., Jesuthasan N., Sojic A., Pettenati C., Tavio M., Andreoni M., Mastroianni C., Antonelli Incalzi R., Galli M. Self-reported symptoms of SARS-CoV-2 infection in a nonhospitalized population in Italy: cross-sectional study of the EPICOVID19 web-based survey. JMIR Public Health Surveill. 2020;6 doi: 10.2196/21866. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Akinwande M., Dikko H., Samson A. Variance inflation factor: as a condition for the inclusion of suppressor variable(s) in regression analysis. Open J. Stat. 2015;5:754–767. doi: 10.4236/ojs.2015.57075. - DOI
    1. Andersen P.A., Andersen J.F. In: The Sourcebook of Nonverbal Measures: Going Beyond Words. Manusov V., editor. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers; 2005. Measurements of perceived nonverbal immediacy; pp. 113–126.
    1. Andrews G., Slade T. Interpreting scores on the kessler psychological distress scale (K10) Aust. N. Z. J. Public Health. 2001;25:494–497. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-842x.2001.tb00310.x. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Barbero M., Moresi F., Leoni D., Gatti R., Egloff M., Falla D. Test-retest reliability of pain extent and pain location using a novel method for pain drawing analysis. Eur. J. Pain. 2015;19:1129–1138. doi: 10.1002/ejp.636. - DOI - PubMed