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Olfactory Performance in Culinary Arts Students

Primary Purpose

Loss of Smell, Olfactory Disorder

Status
Recruiting
Phase
Phase 4
Locations
Canada
Study Type
Interventional
Intervention
Olfactory training
Sponsored by
Leigh Sowerby
About
Eligibility
Locations
Arms
Outcomes
Full info

About this trial

This is an interventional treatment trial for Loss of Smell focused on measuring Olfactory training, Olfaction, Smell, Hyposmia, Anosmia, Olfactory Disfunction

Eligibility Criteria

18 Years - undefined (Adult, Older Adult)All SexesAccepts Healthy Volunteers

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.

Sites / Locations

  • Fanshawe CollegeRecruiting

Arms of the Study

Arm 1

Arm 2

Arm 3

Arm 4

Arm Type

Experimental

No Intervention

Experimental

No Intervention

Arm Label

Olfactory training - Culinary arts students

Control group - Culinary arts students

Olfactory training - Information Technology students

Control group - Information Technology students

Arm Description

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.

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

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.

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

Outcomes

Primary Outcome Measures

Odor threshold discrimination identification scores
Changes from Baseline (before the school semester) on Sniffin Stick test scores considering the three olfactory dimensions (threshold, discrimination, and identification). Higher scores in this test mean better olfactory status.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Subjective odor awareness
Changes from Baseline (before the school semester) on the Odor Awareness Scale. The Odor Awareness Scale questionnaire evaluates the effects of odors on attention, emotion, memory, product purchase, and the sensitivity and importance of odors. This questionnaire broadly covers odor situations pertaining to eating, drinking, nature, and social interactions. Higher scores in this test mean better olfactory status and better odor awareness.
Olfactory specific quality of life
Changes from Baseline (before the school semester) on the Odor Awareness Scale. The Odor Awareness Scale questionnaire evaluates the effects of odors on attention, emotion, memory, product purchase, and the sensitivity and importance of odors. This questionnaire broadly covers odor situations pertaining to eating, drinking, nature, and social interactions. Higher scores in this test mean better olfactory status and better olfactory-specific quality of life.

Full Information

First Posted
September 27, 2023
Last Updated
October 4, 2023
Sponsor
Leigh Sowerby
Collaborators
Fanshawe College
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1. Study Identification

Unique Protocol Identification Number
NCT06066307
Brief Title
Olfactory Performance in Culinary Arts Students
Official Title
Olfactory Performance in Culinary Arts Students
Study Type
Interventional

2. Study Status

Record Verification Date
October 2023
Overall Recruitment Status
Recruiting
Study Start Date
September 25, 2023 (Actual)
Primary Completion Date
September 25, 2024 (Anticipated)
Study Completion Date
November 21, 2024 (Anticipated)

3. Sponsor/Collaborators

Responsible Party, by Official Title
Sponsor-Investigator
Name of the Sponsor
Leigh Sowerby
Collaborators
Fanshawe College

4. Oversight

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated Drug Product
No
Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated Device Product
No
Data Monitoring Committee
No

5. Study Description

Brief Summary
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
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.

6. Conditions and Keywords

Primary Disease or Condition Being Studied in the Trial, or the Focus of the Study
Loss of Smell, Olfactory Disorder
Keywords
Olfactory training, Olfaction, Smell, Hyposmia, Anosmia, Olfactory Disfunction

7. Study Design

Primary Purpose
Treatment
Study Phase
Phase 4
Interventional Study Model
Factorial Assignment
Model Description
Randomized controlled trial
Masking
Outcomes Assessor
Masking Description
Research staff involved in the smell tests and questionnaires administration will not be aware of the subjects allocation (whether OT or control)
Allocation
Non-Randomized
Enrollment
120 (Anticipated)

8. Arms, Groups, and Interventions

Arm Title
Olfactory training - Culinary arts students
Arm Type
Experimental
Arm Description
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.
Arm Title
Control group - Culinary arts students
Arm Type
No Intervention
Arm Description
Students in culinary skill training program will be assessed before and after the school semester, without any intervention throughout this period.
Arm Title
Olfactory training - Information Technology students
Arm Type
Experimental
Arm Description
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.
Arm Title
Control group - Information Technology students
Arm Type
No Intervention
Arm Description
Students in Information Technology program will be assessed before and after the school semester, without any intervention throughout this period.
Intervention Type
Other
Intervention Name(s)
Olfactory training
Other Intervention Name(s)
Smell training, Smell Rehabilitation, Olfactory Rehabilitation
Intervention Description
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).
Primary Outcome Measure Information:
Title
Odor threshold discrimination identification scores
Description
Changes from Baseline (before the school semester) on Sniffin Stick test scores considering the three olfactory dimensions (threshold, discrimination, and identification). Higher scores in this test mean better olfactory status.
Time Frame
Baseline, 4 months (after school semester)
Secondary Outcome Measure Information:
Title
Subjective odor awareness
Description
Changes from Baseline (before the school semester) on the Odor Awareness Scale. The Odor Awareness Scale questionnaire evaluates the effects of odors on attention, emotion, memory, product purchase, and the sensitivity and importance of odors. This questionnaire broadly covers odor situations pertaining to eating, drinking, nature, and social interactions. Higher scores in this test mean better olfactory status and better odor awareness.
Time Frame
Baseline, 4 months (after school semester)
Title
Olfactory specific quality of life
Description
Changes from Baseline (before the school semester) on the Odor Awareness Scale. The Odor Awareness Scale questionnaire evaluates the effects of odors on attention, emotion, memory, product purchase, and the sensitivity and importance of odors. This questionnaire broadly covers odor situations pertaining to eating, drinking, nature, and social interactions. Higher scores in this test mean better olfactory status and better olfactory-specific quality of life.
Time Frame
Baseline, 4 months (after school semester)

10. Eligibility

Sex
All
Minimum Age & Unit of Time
18 Years
Accepts Healthy Volunteers
Accepts Healthy Volunteers
Eligibility Criteria
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.
Central Contact Person:
First Name & Middle Initial & Last Name or Official Title & Degree
Taciano Rocha, Ph.D, ACRP-CP
Phone
5196466100
Ext
61125
Email
taciano.rocha@sjhc.london.on.ca
First Name & Middle Initial & Last Name or Official Title & Degree
Michal Kahanovitch, MSc
Phone
5196466100
Ext
61125
Email
michal.kahanovitch@sjhc.london.on.ca
Facility Information:
Facility Name
Fanshawe College
City
London
State/Province
Ontario
ZIP/Postal Code
N5Y 5R6
Country
Canada
Individual Site Status
Recruiting
Facility Contact:
First Name & Middle Initial & Last Name & Degree
Taciano Rocha, Ph.D, ACRP-CP
Phone
5196466100
Ext
61125
Email
taciano.rocha@sjhc.london.on.ca

12. IPD Sharing Statement

Plan to Share IPD
No
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Olfactory Performance in Culinary Arts Students

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