Key clinical point: In patients with progressive multiple sclerosis (MS), impaired odor identification is associated with a greater clinical decline and higher risk for death.
Major finding: Impaired Brief-Smell Identification (B-SIT) was associated with higher risk for death (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR], 14.9; P less than .001). Among patients with progressive MS, impaired B-SIT vs normal B-SIT showed greater clinical change per month in terms of Multiple Sclerosis Severity scores (median, 0.62 vs. –0.08; P =.004) and Age-Related Multiple Sclerosis Severity scores (median, 0.54 vs. –0.07; P =.004).
Study details: Findings from a retrospective review on 149 patients with MS during a median follow-up of 121 months.
Disclosures: No funding source was identified. The authors declared no conflicts of interest.
Citation: da Silva AM et al. Mult Scler Relat Disord. 2020 Sep 3. doi: 10.1016/j.msard.2020.102486 .