Effect of wearing masks on odor detection and recognition

Abstract

Background

The effect of wearing masks on olfaction remains unclear.

Objectives

This study aimed to clarify the differences between the effects of no masks, surgical masks, and N95 respirator masks by conducting both identification and threshold olfaction tests.

Methods

Young, healthy volunteers aged ≥ 18 years and < 30 years without awareness of apparent olfactory disorder were included. All participants filled out a questionnaire on olfaction and completed an acuity smell identification test (Open Essence test) and an olfactory threshold test (T&T olfactometry) while wearing no masks, surgical masks, or N95 respirator masks.

Results

In the Open Essence tests, the no-mask group score was significantly higher than those of the surgical- and N95-mask groups. Using T&T olfactometry, the median-detection threshold of the no-mask group was significantly lower than that of the surgical-mask group, and the surgical-mask group threshold was significantly lower than that of the N95-mask group. Similar patterns were observed for the median-recognition threshold.

Conclusions

Wearing masks, especially an N95 mask, reduces the ability to detect and identify odors. This disadvantage should be considered by professionals such as healthcare workers, who require proper olfaction to perform appropriate tasks.

Chinese Abstract

背景：戴口罩对嗅觉的影响仍不清楚。

目的：本研究通过进行识别和阈值嗅觉测试, 旨在澄清不戴口罩、外科口罩、和 N95 呼吸器口罩的影响之间的差异。

方法：纳入没有意识到明显的症状嗅觉障碍的年龄在18 岁以上30 岁以下的年轻健康志愿者。 所有参与者都填写了一份关于嗅觉的调查问卷, 并且完成了未佩戴口罩、佩戴外科口罩或N95口罩时的嗅觉敏锐度测试（Open Essence 测试）和嗅觉阈值测试（T&T 嗅觉测量）。

结果：在Open Essence测试中, 无口罩组得分明显高于外科口罩组和 N95 口罩组。 使用 T&T 嗅觉测量法, 无面罩组的中值检测阈值明显低于外科口罩组, 且外科口罩组阈值明显低于N95口罩组。 观察到中值识别阈值的类似模式。

结论：佩戴口罩, 尤其是 N95 口罩, 会降低检测和识别气味的能力。医疗保健工作者等专业人士应该考虑这一缺点, 因为他们需要良好的嗅觉来执行适当的任务。

Keywords:

• Olfaction
• surgical mask
• N95 mask
• odor detection
• odor recognition

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Editage (www.editage.com) for English language editing.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).