Olfactory Performance in Culinary Arts Students

NCT ID: NCT06066307

Last Updated: 2023-10-06

Study Results

Results pending

The study team has not published outcome measurements, participant flow, or safety data for this trial yet. Check back later for updates.

Basic Information

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Recruitment Status

UNKNOWN

Clinical Phase

PHASE4

Total Enrollment

120 participants

Study Classification

INTERVENTIONAL

Study Start Date

2023-09-25

Study Completion Date

2024-11-21

Brief Summary

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The COVID-19 pandemic brought impaired smell and taste to the forefront of international public awareness and clinical importance. Loss of smell can impair awareness of environmental hazards, alter appetite, and have negative effects on social behavior and well-being. Despite the significant functional impact associated with impaired olfaction, few effective treatments are available. Olfactory training (OT), the mainstay of treatment, is a self-administered therapy which involves a routine of repetitive brief odor exposures over several weeks. The process has been shown to improve odor discrimination, identification and detection threshold. However, the structured design and daily time commitment may be difficult to adopt for some patients, leading to poor compliance. Moreover, OT only exposes patients to a limited number of odours, failing to replicate the complexity of odor mixtures experienced daily in our chemosensory environment. OT has mainly been studied with four conventional odours encompassing the major odor categories; phenyl ethyl alcohol/rose (flowery odor), eucalyptol (aromatic), citronellal/lemon (fruity), and eugenol (clove) (resinous); however, this neglects the importance of emphasizing odors that culturally specific or personally relevant to the patient. For some patients, these factors could hinder their ability to adopt and comply with therapy.

In contrast, cooking is a culturally ubiquitous activity that is already performed daily by most people, and naturally exposes us to personally meaningful and culturally relevant odors. However, there have been no published studies investigating the impact that odors encountered during meal preparation have on olfactory performance and development. The present study aims to compare the olfactory effects of culinary skills training to those of a conventionally designed OT program. To achieve this, olfactory testing will be conducted on students enrolled in a professional culinary skills training program at Fanshawe College, and a control group consisting of students in non-olfactory dependent programs at the same institution. To compare the effect of cooking to conventional OT, the study will be repeated for a second semester and students will be asked to perform concurrent OT.

Detailed Description

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This factorially designed randomized control trial is designed to compare the effects of a culinary skills training program to a typical olfactory training program on olfactory ability, awareness, and quality of life. Students enrolled in a culinary skills training program and those in a different discipline with no relevant dependence on olfactory function (information technology) will have their olfactory performance assessed before and after the completion of the program semester. The investigators will then repeat the experiment in the subsequent semester with a new group of students, asking them to perform routine OT throughout the semester.

Objective olfactory assessment will be performed with the Sniffin'Sticks olfactory test kit (Burghart, Wedel, Germany). Additionally, they will be asked to complete questionnaires that evaluate their olfactory awareness, the 32-item Odor Awareness Scale. The study aims to compare the effect of routine exposure to the chemosensory environment of cooking with conventional odor training (OT) in improving olfactory function.

Hypothesis and Objectives Objective 1: To compare the effect of culinary skill training to a control group on objective olfactory performance, subjective olfactory awareness and olfactory related quality of life.

* Hypothesis 1: Participants who complete a semester of culinary skill training will experience improvements in odor threshold discrimination identification scores compared to students studying in non-chemosensory dependent fields.
* Hypothesis 2: Participants who complete a semester of culinary skill training will experience improvements in subjective odor awareness compared to students studying in non- chemosensory dependent fields.
* Hypothesis 3: Participants who complete a semester of culinary skill training will experience improvements in olfactory specific quality of life compared to students studying in non- chemosensory dependent fields.

Objective 2: To compare the effect of culinary skill training with OT to conventional OT on objective olfactory performance, subjective olfactory awareness and olfactory related quality of life

* Hypothesis 1: Participants who complete a semester of culinary skill training with OT will experience further improvements in odor their threshold discrimination identification scores.
* Hypothesis 2: Participants who complete a semester of culinary skill training with OT will experience improvements in subjective odor awareness that are greater in magnitude to the improvements gained by participants practicing OT.
* Hypothesis 3: Participants who complete a semester of culinary skill training with OT will experience improvements in olfactory specific quality of life that are greater in magnitude to the improvements gained by participants practicing OT.

Conditions

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Loss of Smell Olfactory Disorder

Study Design

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Allocation Method

NON_RANDOMIZED

Intervention Model

FACTORIAL

Randomized controlled trial
Primary Study Purpose

TREATMENT

Blinding Strategy

SINGLE

Outcome Assessors
Research staff involved in the smell tests and questionnaires administration will not be aware of the subjects allocation (whether OT or control)

Study Groups

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Olfactory training - Culinary arts students

Students in culinary skill training program will perform olfactory training by sniffing four specific essential oils twice daily, over the entire semester (4-month period). The odors will comprise four major odor categories: flowery (phenyl ethyl alcohol/rose), aromatic (eucalyptol), fruity (citronellal/lemon), and resinous (eugenol). They will be assessed before and after the school semester.

Group Type EXPERIMENTAL

Olfactory training

Intervention Type OTHER

Olfactory training will be performed by sniffing four specific essential oils twice daily for 30 seconds each. Participants are encouraged to visualize the item they are smelling, while they perform the procedure, in a quiet room, with their eyes closed. The odors will comprise four major odor categories: flowery (phenyl ethyl alcohol/rose), aromatic (eucalyptol), fruity (citronellal/lemon), and resinous (eugenol).

Control group - Culinary arts students

Students in culinary skill training program will be assessed before and after the school semester, without any intervention throughout this period.

Group Type NO_INTERVENTION

No interventions assigned to this group

Olfactory training - Information Technology students

Students in Information Technology program will perform olfactory training by sniffing four specific essential oils twice daily, over the entire semester (4-month period). The odors will comprise four major odor categories: flowery (phenyl ethyl alcohol/rose), aromatic (eucalyptol), fruity (citronellal/lemon), and resinous (eugenol). They will be assessed before and after the school semester.

Group Type EXPERIMENTAL

Olfactory training

Intervention Type OTHER

Olfactory training will be performed by sniffing four specific essential oils twice daily for 30 seconds each. Participants are encouraged to visualize the item they are smelling, while they perform the procedure, in a quiet room, with their eyes closed. The odors will comprise four major odor categories: flowery (phenyl ethyl alcohol/rose), aromatic (eucalyptol), fruity (citronellal/lemon), and resinous (eugenol).

Control group - Information Technology students

Students in Information Technology program will be assessed before and after the school semester, without any intervention throughout this period.

Group Type NO_INTERVENTION

No interventions assigned to this group

Interventions

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Olfactory training

Olfactory training will be performed by sniffing four specific essential oils twice daily for 30 seconds each. Participants are encouraged to visualize the item they are smelling, while they perform the procedure, in a quiet room, with their eyes closed. The odors will comprise four major odor categories: flowery (phenyl ethyl alcohol/rose), aromatic (eucalyptol), fruity (citronellal/lemon), and resinous (eugenol).

Intervention Type OTHER

Other Intervention Names

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Smell training Smell Rehabilitation Olfactory Rehabilitation

Eligibility Criteria

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Inclusion Criteria

* age 18 years or older
* enrolled in an introductory training program at Fanshawe collage (Culinary arts or Information Technology)
* capable of providing informed written consent
* capable of reading and writing in English

Exclusion Criteria

* Participants with a history of anosmia, and chronic sinus disease.
Minimum Eligible Age

18 Years

Eligible Sex

ALL

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Sponsors

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Fanshawe College

UNKNOWN

Sponsor Role collaborator

Leigh Sowerby

OTHER

Sponsor Role lead

Responsible Party

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Leigh Sowerby

MD, MHM, FRCSC

Responsibility Role SPONSOR_INVESTIGATOR

Locations

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Fanshawe College

London, Ontario, Canada

Site Status RECRUITING

Countries

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Canada

Central Contacts

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Taciano Rocha, Ph.D, ACRP-CP

Role: CONTACT

5196466100 ext. 61125

Michal Kahanovitch, MSc

Role: CONTACT

5196466100 ext. 61125

Facility Contacts

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Taciano Rocha, Ph.D, ACRP-CP

Role: primary

5196466100 ext. 61125

References

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Yan CH, Faraji F, Prajapati DP, Boone CE, DeConde AS. Association of chemosensory dysfunction and COVID-19 in patients presenting with influenza-like symptoms. Int Forum Allergy Rhinol. 2020 Jul;10(7):806-813. doi: 10.1002/alr.22579. Epub 2020 Jun 1.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 32279441 (View on PubMed)

Pence TS, Reiter ER, DiNardo LJ, Costanzo RM. Risk factors for hazardous events in olfactory-impaired patients. JAMA Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2014 Oct;140(10):951-5. doi: 10.1001/jamaoto.2014.1675.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 25170573 (View on PubMed)

McCrickerd K, Forde CG. Sensory influences on food intake control: moving beyond palatability. Obes Rev. 2016 Jan;17(1):18-29. doi: 10.1111/obr.12340. Epub 2015 Dec 11.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 26662879 (View on PubMed)

Boesveldt S, Parma V. The importance of the olfactory system in human well-being, through nutrition and social behavior. Cell Tissue Res. 2021 Jan;383(1):559-567. doi: 10.1007/s00441-020-03367-7. Epub 2021 Jan 12.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 33433688 (View on PubMed)

Philpott CM, Boak D. The impact of olfactory disorders in the United kingdom. Chem Senses. 2014 Oct;39(8):711-8. doi: 10.1093/chemse/bju043. Epub 2014 Sep 8.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 25201900 (View on PubMed)

Hummel T, Rissom K, Reden J, Hahner A, Weidenbecher M, Huttenbrink KB. Effects of olfactory training in patients with olfactory loss. Laryngoscope. 2009 Mar;119(3):496-9. doi: 10.1002/lary.20101.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 19235739 (View on PubMed)

Pekala K, Chandra RK, Turner JH. Efficacy of olfactory training in patients with olfactory loss: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Int Forum Allergy Rhinol. 2016 Mar;6(3):299-307. doi: 10.1002/alr.21669. Epub 2015 Dec 1.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 26624966 (View on PubMed)

Hummel T, Whitcroft KL, Andrews P, Altundag A, Cinghi C, Costanzo RM, Damm M, Frasnelli J, Gudziol H, Gupta N, Haehne A, Holbrook E, Hong SC, Hornung D, Huttenbrink KB, Kamel R, Kobayashi M, Konstantinidis I, Landis BN, Leopold DA, Macchi A, Miwa T, Moesges R, Mullol J, Mueller CA, Ottaviano G, Passali GC, Philpott C, Pinto JM, Ramakrishnan VJ, Rombaux P, Roth Y, Schlosser RA, Shu B, Soler G, Stjarne P, Stuck BA, Vodicka J, Welge-Luessen A. Position paper on olfactory dysfunction. Rhinol Suppl. 2017 Mar;54(26):1-30. doi: 10.4193/Rhino16.248.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 29528615 (View on PubMed)

Fornazieri MA, Garcia ECD, Lopes NMD, Miyazawa INI, Silva GDS, Monteiro RDS, Pinna FR, Voegels RL, Doty RL. Adherence and Efficacy of Olfactory Training as a Treatment for Persistent Olfactory Loss. Am J Rhinol Allergy. 2020 Mar;34(2):238-248. doi: 10.1177/1945892419887895. Epub 2019 Nov 25. No abstract available.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 31766853 (View on PubMed)

Altundag A, Cayonu M, Kayabasoglu G, Salihoglu M, Tekeli H, Saglam O, Hummel T. Modified olfactory training in patients with postinfectious olfactory loss. Laryngoscope. 2015 Aug;125(8):1763-6. doi: 10.1002/lary.25245. Epub 2015 Jun 2.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 26031472 (View on PubMed)

Greenberg MI, Curtis JA, Vearrier D. The perception of odor is not a surrogate marker for chemical exposure: a review of factors influencing human odor perception. Clin Toxicol (Phila). 2013 Feb;51(2):70-6. doi: 10.3109/15563650.2013.767908.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 23387344 (View on PubMed)

Majid A. Human Olfaction at the Intersection of Language, Culture, and Biology. Trends Cogn Sci. 2021 Feb;25(2):111-123. doi: 10.1016/j.tics.2020.11.005. Epub 2020 Dec 18.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 33349546 (View on PubMed)

Huisman JLA, Majid A. Psycholinguistic variables matter in odor naming. Mem Cognit. 2018 May;46(4):577-588. doi: 10.3758/s13421-017-0785-1.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 29435824 (View on PubMed)

Spence C. Perceptual learning in the chemical senses: A review. Food Res Int. 2019 Sep;123:746-761. doi: 10.1016/j.foodres.2019.06.005. Epub 2019 Jun 5.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 31285024 (View on PubMed)

Other Identifiers

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23-06-11-1

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id

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