Olfaction impairment (OI) is a very common, but underreported, sensory deficiency among older adults that can lead to a host of adverse health conditions, quality of life issues, and is a predictor of 5-year mortality. Similarly, body composition and weight are driving factors of poor health among older populations, with malign effects including decreased mobility and sarcopenia. We theorize that older adults with OI both weigh less, and lose weight faster than those with without any impairment. Our goal is to examine how OI associated with weight and weight loss two ways: 1) cross-sectional, where we assess the association during the year sense of smell was tested; and 2) longitudinally, where we inspect whether OI indicates more rapid weight loss over a seven-year period. The outcome variables of interest were total mass, total lean mass, total bone-free lean mass and total fat mass. Analyses were also performed in race-specific populations and in sex-specific populations. Data were obtained from the Health, Aging and Body Composition Study. The study found in the cross-sectional analysis that those with poor olfaction has significantly less total mass (-1.48 kg) and fat mass (-1.05 kg) than those with good olfaction. Longitudinally, those with poor olfaction showed a significantly faster decrease in total mass (-245.7 g/year), lean mass (-171.4 g/year) and bone free mass (-164.7 g/year) but not fat mass. Differing results were found in race-specific analyses but not in sex-specific analyses, with the decrease in weight appearing in whites but not blacks.
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