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CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · Int Arch Otorhinolaryngol 2022; 26(01): e032-e037
DOI: 10.1055/s-0040-1719122
Original Article

Olfactory Performance among Hospital Residents

Gustavo Lara Rezende 
1   Otorhinolaryngology Departament, Hospital de Base do Distrito Federal (HBDF), Brasília, DF, Brazil
2   Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade Católica de Brasília (UCB), Taguatinga, Brasília, DF, Brazil
3   Morphology Departament, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de Brasília (UnB), Brasília, DF, Brazil
,
Max Sarmet 
4   Hospital de Apoio de Brasília (HAB), Brasília, DF, Brazil
,
Gabrielle Everton Sousa 
2   Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade Católica de Brasília (UCB), Taguatinga, Brasília, DF, Brazil
,
Felipe Carneiro Krier 
2   Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade Católica de Brasília (UCB), Taguatinga, Brasília, DF, Brazil
,
Diderot Rodrigues Parreira 
2   Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade Católica de Brasília (UCB), Taguatinga, Brasília, DF, Brazil
,
Selma Aparecida Kuckelhaus 
3   Morphology Departament, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de Brasília (UnB), Brasília, DF, Brazil
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Abstract

Introduction Smell plays an important role in the maintenance of health and quality of life of the general population. Health workers with olfactory impairment may not be able to help diagnose certain diseases, and subsequently increase the risk of hazardous events and mortality among those affected. ‘Odor learning’ requires repeated experiences with different smells to develop a discriminatory ability, and this is a process that takes years. Because of that, physicians of certain medical specialities have better odor detection than others.

Objective To study the olfactory performance and associated factors of otorhinolaryngology residents compared with residents of different medical specialities in a representative sample of a tertiary hospital.

Methods The University of Pennsylvania Smell Identification Test (UPSIT) was used to compare olfactory performance. Clinical and epidemiological data were collected among 42 hospital residents.

Results Otorhinolaryngology residents presented an average UPSIT score of 35.0, and the other residents, a score of 32.8 (p = 0.02) Of all the residents, 40.5% showed some grade of olfactory impairment. Half of the females students in the first year of residency showed olfactory dysfunction. The multivariate analyses found age (p = 0.03; 95% confidence interval for β = 0.33) to be an independent predictor of the UPSIT score.

Conclusion The present study demonstrated that otorhinolaryngology residents have greater olfactory capacity compared with other residents. Future studies should explore the relevant factors of olfactory impairment and its impact on quality of life in this population.

Keywords

olfactory test - dysosmia - residents - health workers


Publication History

Received: 05 July 2020

Accepted: 27 September 2020

Article published online:
19 February 2021

© 2021. Fundação Otorrinolaringologia. This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commecial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)

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