Long-term effect of olfactory training after exposure to fragrances in a walk-in olfaktometer

Introduction It is known that a systematically performed olfactory training can improve the olfactory capacity. We were able to show that a so-called whole body smell training under as natural, everyday conditions as possible leads to an improvement in the olfactory function. For this purpose we used a special room installation ("Osmodrama- Smeller 2.0), in which up to 64 different fragrances can be produced. The current question was whether long-term effects of fragrance exposure on the olfactory capacity can be detected more than 3 months after the end of the olfactory training.

Material and methods 5 patients with olfactory disorders of different genesis (15 women, 10 men) participated in a 2-week olfactory training. 44 % of patients showed a clinically significant improvement in olfactory capacity. 3-6 months after the end of the olfactory training within the walk-in olcotometer (Smeller 2.0), the patients were examined again by psychophysical olfactory testing. Results Although there was a decrease in olfactory performance after the end of the olfactory training, the results were significantly better than before the beginning of the olfactory training. The long-term results 3-6 months after the end of the olfactory training showed a significant improvement in 28 % of the patients compared to the baseline.

Conclusion After scent exposure in a walk-in olfaktometer, effects were shown that lasted at least for 3-6 months. Installations in the sense of scented, walk-in rooms may be an attractive alternative to classic olfactory training.

Poster-PDF A-1616.PDF

Publication History

Article published online:
10 June 2020