Odor-Specific Symptoms in Parkinson's Disease-UPSIT-TC Odor Identification Status Versus Clinical Severity.
4 affiliations
- 1The Department of Neurological Institute Taichung Veterans General Hospital Taichung Taiwan vghtc.gov.tw.
- 2Division of Clinical Trial Department of Medical Research Taichung Veterans General Hospital Taichung Taiwan vghtc.gov.tw.
- 3Department of Post-Baccalaureate Medicine College of Medicine National Chung Hsing University Taichung Taiwan nchu.edu.tw.
- 4Brain and Neuroscience Research Center College of Medicine National Chung Hsing University Taichung Taiwan nchu.edu.tw.
Abstract
Olfactory dysfunction is a well-recognized prodromal sign of Parkinson's disease (PD). This study aimed to explore the potential of short-form olfactory tests as a more convenient method for assessing PD symptoms in clinical practice. This retrospective cross-sectional study included 176 patients with PD. For each clinical measure, 40 separate logistic regression models evaluated its association with correct identification of each UPSIT-TC odor. Odors showing nominal associations at unrounded p < 0.05 were designated candidate symptom-associated odors. A symptom-specific odor score was constructed when at least two odors (≥ 2) met this criterion. Associations of each clinical measure with the UPSIT-TC total score and its corresponding symptom-specific odor score were subsequently evaluated using correlation analyses and covariate-adjusted regression models. Across all clinical measures, 101 nominal odor-clinical associations involving 31 unique odors were identified, with 17 clinical measures meeting the ≥ 2-odor criterion. Symptom-specific odor scores generally showed stronger unadjusted correlations with their corresponding clinical measures than did the UPSIT-TC total score. After adjustment for age, sex, disease duration, and levodopa equivalent daily dose (LEDD), with false discovery rate correction across 32 models, symptom-specific odor scores remained significantly associated with MDS-UPDRS total and Parts I-III scores, bradykinesia, rigidity, axial symptoms, NMSS total and gastrointestinal and urinary domain scores, MoCA scores, and NPI total scores. In contrast, the UPSIT-TC total score remained significantly associated only with rigidity. Symptom-specific odor scores have the potential to serve as a more clinically practical tool for assessing PD symptom burden than the UPSIT-TC total score. Further large-scale, multicenter studies are needed to explore odors with higher specificity for PD clinical symptoms.
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BibTeX
@article{lin2026odorspecific,
title = {{Odor-Specific Symptoms in Parkinson's Disease-UPSIT-TC Odor Identification Status Versus Clinical Severity.}},
author = {Ting-Chun Lin and Lan-Yan Yang and Yu-Hsuan Lin and Hsin-Bei Lei and Shih-Chi Chiu and Ting-Chun Fang and Ming-Hong Chang and Yi-Jen Guo},
journal = {Parkinson's disease},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1155/padi/9572752},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42923752},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Odor-Specific Symptoms in Parkinson's Disease-UPSIT-TC Odor Identification Status Versus Clinical Severity.
AU - Ting-Chun Lin
AU - Lan-Yan Yang
AU - Yu-Hsuan Lin
AU - Hsin-Bei Lei
AU - Shih-Chi Chiu
AU - Ting-Chun Fang
AU - Ming-Hong Chang
AU - Yi-Jen Guo
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/22
JO - Parkinson's disease
DO - 10.1155/padi/9572752
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42923752
AB - Olfactory dysfunction is a well-recognized prodromal sign of Parkinson's disease (PD). This study aimed to explore the potential of short-form olfactory tests as a more convenient method for assessing PD symptoms in clinical practice. This retrospective cross-sectional study included 176 patients with PD. For each clinical measure, 40 separate logistic regression models evaluated its association with correct identification of each UPSIT-TC odor. Odors showing nominal associations at unrounded p < 0.05 were designated candidate symptom-associated odors. A symptom-specific odor score was constructed when at least two odors (≥ 2) met this criterion. Associations of each clinical measure with the UPSIT-TC total score and its corresponding symptom-specific odor score were subsequently evaluated using correlation analyses and covariate-adjusted regression models. Across all clinical measures, 101 nominal odor-clinical associations involving 31 unique odors were identified, with 17 clinical measures meeting the ≥ 2-odor criterion. Symptom-specific odor scores generally showed stronger unadjusted correlations with their corresponding clinical measures than did the UPSIT-TC total score. After adjustment for age, sex, disease duration, and levodopa equivalent daily dose (LEDD), with false discovery rate correction across 32 models, symptom-specific odor scores remained significantly associated with MDS-UPDRS total and Parts I-III scores, bradykinesia, rigidity, axial symptoms, NMSS total and gastrointestinal and urinary domain scores, MoCA scores, and NPI total scores. In contrast, the UPSIT-TC total score remained significantly associated only with rigidity. Symptom-specific odor scores have the potential to serve as a more clinically practical tool for assessing PD symptom burden than the UPSIT-TC total score. Further large-scale, multicenter studies are needed to explore odors with higher specificity for PD clinical symptoms.
SN - 2090-8083
SN - 2042-0080
ER -