Table 3.

Rates of self-reported smell and taste alteration in chronic smokers compared with the NHANES 2013-2014 total sample and never smokers^¥

	Percentage (%) of Smoker Sample (n=135)	Prevalence in NHANES 2013-2014 (n=3815)	Prevalence in NHANES 2013-2014 Never smokers only (n=2025)
Smell Alteration†	21.5	21.6	17.6
During the past 12 months, had a problem with ability to smell, such as not being able to smell things or things not smelling the way they are supposed to	10.4	8.2	6.4
Worse ability to smell now compared to when 25 years old	17.1*	15.6	12.4
During the past 12 months, smell things when nothing is there (phantom smell)	2.2	7.1	5.7
Ability to smell better compared to age 25 years old	10.8*	6.5	5.4
Taste Alteration†	18.5	16.9	14.5
During the past 12 months, had a problem with your ability to taste sweet, sour, salty or bitter foods and drinks	6.7	4.9	3.6
Worse ability to taste salt, sweet, sour, or bitter now compared to when 25 years old	10.0-12.7*	3.9-4.8	3.0-3.9
Ability to taste food flavors such as chocolate, vanilla or strawberry now compared to when 25 years old	11.7*	7.9	6.3
During the past 12 months, tasted things when nothing was there (dysgeusia)	0	5.5	4.7
Better ability to taste since age 25 (salt, sweet, sour, or bitter) compared to age 25 years old	8.2-11.8*	4.0-8.2	2.6-7.6
Both Smell and Taste Alteration†	9.6	8.6	5.7

^¥NHANES includes adults ages 40 to over 80 years old.

^†Sub-scores will not sum to total alteration index because of overlapping responses.

^*% out of participants who are older than age 25 (n=109 to 111)