J Am Heart Assoc
Is there an association between loss of smell and heart failure risk?
Among community-dwelling older adults, a single olfaction test was associated with a long-term risk for incident congestive heart failure (CHF), particularly among those reporting very good to excellent health.
- This study included 2,537 older adults (aged 75.6±2.8 years) from the Health ABC (Health, Aging, and Body Composition) study with olfaction assessed by the 12-item Brief Smell Identification Test defined as poor, moderate, or good. Outcomes were incident coronary heart disease (CHD), stroke, and CHF.
- During up to a 12-year follow-up, 353 incident CHD, 258 stroke, and 477 CHF events were identified.
- Olfaction was statistically significantly associated with incident CHF, but not with CHD or stroke. After adjusting for demographics, risk factors, and biomarkers of CHF, the cause-specific hazard ratio (HR) of CHF was 1.32 (95% CI, 1.05-1.66) for moderate and 1.28 (95% CI, 1.01-1.64) for poor olfaction.
- While subgroup results were not statistically significantly different, the association of olfaction with CHF appeared to be evident among participants who reported very good to excellent health (HR, 1.47 [95% CI, 1.01-2.14] for moderate; and 1.76 [95% CI, 1.20-2.58] for poor olfaction), but not among those with fair to poor self-reported health (HR, 1.04 [95% CI, 0.64-1.70] for moderate; and 0.92 [95% CI, 0.58-1.47] for poor olfaction).
Source:
Chamberlin KW, et al. (2024, June 7). J Am Heart Assoc. Olfactory Impairment and the Risk of Major Adverse Cardiovascular Outcomes in Older Adults. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38847146/