Sexual desire after olfactory loss: Quantitative and qualitative reports of patients with smell disorders

Olfaction moderates human sexual experiences and smell disorder patients sometimes spontaneously complain about impairments in their sexual life. The aim of the present study was to systematically investigate the impact of olfactory dysfunction on sexual desire. We compared a sample of n = 100 (n = 52 women; aged 23-51 years, M = 40.1, SD = 8.2) outpatients with olfactory disorders to a sample of n = 51 healthy controls (n = 32 women; aged 21-63 years, M = 39.2, SD = 13.1). Sexual desire was assessed with a standardized questionnaire and with two additional items asking for quantitative and qualitative change of sexual desire since the onset of olfactory loss. In addition, subjects completed questionnaires about mood and partnership attachment. Within the patients' group, 29% of the subjects reported decreased sexual desire since the onset of olfactory loss. This change was predicted by depressive symptoms and olfactory function. Qualitative reports revealed for instance that the lack of attraction due to the other's body odor impedes partnership intimacy. The change of sexual desire was significantly related to depression and severity of olfactory impairment but not to partnership attachment. However, in the standardized questionnaire about sexual desire we observed no differences between patients and controls. To sum up, a considerable number of patients state sexual impairment as a concomitant complaint of olfactory dysfunction. Patients do typically not spontaneously report those intimate problems, routine care settings should inform about this common side effect and explicitly ask for sexual life.