Abstract
Taste and smell function decline with age, with robust impairment in the very old. Much less is known about taste and smell function in young and middle aged. We investigated taste and smell sensitivity via thresholds in a sub-sample of the NutriAct Family Study (NFS), the NFS Examinations cohort (NFSE; N = 251, age M = 62.5 years). We examined different aspects relating to taste and smell function: the degree to which taste and smell sensitivity relate to another and to taste and smell preferences, the role of gender and age, as well as effects on Quality of Life (QoL). Taste thresholds were highly correlated, but no correlation was observed between taste and smell thresholds and between thresholds and preference. Women were more sensitive for both taste and smell than men. We found no effect of age on sensitivity and no effect of sensitivity on QoL. All null findings were complemented by Bayesian statistics. Together our results indicate the independence of taste and smell despite their overlap during sensorial experiences. We found no evidence for age-related sensory decline, which could be due to our sample’s characteristics of non-clinical volunteers with good dental health and 93% non-smokers.
Highlights
The ability to taste and smell are important determinants of food perception and appreciation
Age-related sensory decline is evident, there is no consensus on the prevalence of taste and smell dysfunction at different ages or at which age significant taste and smell impairments are to be expected in the population
The NutriAct Family Study (NFS)/E are non-clinical cohorts of volunteers who were invited to participate in a longitudinal study protocol. Because this is the first report on the NFS Examinations cohort (NFSE) cohort, we will describe its complete study protocol, the present study focuses only on different aspects that have previously been linked with taste and smell function: the degree to which taste and smell sensitivity relate to taste and smell preferences, respectively, the role of age, gender, smoking, and dental health, as well as effects of taste and smell on Quality of Life (QoL)
Summary
The ability to taste and smell are important determinants of food perception and appreciation. Similar to sight and hearing, taste and smell decline with age as a result of sensory senescence [2], with robust impairment occurring in the very old [3,4]. Age-related sensory decline is evident, there is no consensus on the prevalence of taste and smell dysfunction at different ages or at which age significant taste and smell impairments are to be expected in the population. This can, at least in part, be attributed to different populations investigated (e.g., clinical, healthy, etc.), different measurements or techniques used (e.g., self-assessment, validated tests, etc.), and other factors than age influence chemosensory function (e.g., smoking, comorbidities, overweight, etc.)
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