An important study reveals alarming facts about the poor levels of understanding and care of smell and taste disorders experienced by many patients.

The findings of a major patient survey undertaken by Fifth Sense and completed by over 600 patients, highlights the difficulties that people with smell and taste disorders experience in accessing treatment. Identifying these barriers is vital to enable people to have better access to healthcare.

• More than one-third of GPs and more than half of neurologists failed to recognise an impaired sense of smell or taste as being a problem for the patient
• More than 60% of patients in the study reported suffering from anxiety or depression
• Some 98% of patients said their quality of life had been affected
• Alarmingly, only around 20% of patients reported in the survey that they had experienced an improvement in their symptoms following treatment

The survey captured the poor experiences of patients when accessing healthcare for their smell and taste disorder. It also highlighted the poor level of understanding of the impact of smell and taste disorders on patients by many GPs and consultants.

This research was conducted before the COVID-19 pandemic and we now know that many people reported loss of sense and taste as early indicators of a potential diagnosis of Covid-19.

The survey identified many areas that were consistent across multiple experiences, including:

• Knowledge of appropriate treatments is often lacking amongst medical professionals, leading to no treatment or repeated ineffective treatments being prescribed.
• Obtaining a specialist consultation is a challenge for many patients, with 1 in 4 reporting a difficulty in getting a referral.
• The clear impact that smell and taste impairment can have on mental health. There are many reasons why this could be the case, including the loss of quality of life and also the fact that smell and taste have clear connections to important emotional parts of our brains.

Senior author and Fifth Sense trustee Professor Carl Philpott stated:

“This publication marks a key milestone for Fifth Sense in raising the plight of those affected by smell and taste disorders. In conjunction with the JLA PSP it will be a powerful tool in setting out an agenda through change, generating new research to enable better treatment options for patients in the future.”