Introduction
Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is a progressive disease characterized by persistent airflow limitation and respiratory symptoms. Weight loss, malnutrition and muscle wasting are highly prevalent in COPD and predict mortality. Interventions aimed at optimizing nutritional status improve outcomes such as mortality. Improving food intake in these patients is one of the strategies to optimize their nutritional status. A key determinant of food intake is smell and taste (chemosensory) function. Potentially deviant chemosensory function in COPD patients may therefore be an important barrier for them to adhere to nutritional advice or maintain adequate nutritional intake. Therefore, we aim to investigate if COPD patients have impaired chemosensory function compared to controls.

Materials and Methods
We developed a questionnaire to evaluate subjective chemosensory function in COPD patients, where higher questionnaire scores reflect worse subjective functioning. Additionally objective chemosensory function was assessed; smell function was evaluated by means of a threshold and identification test (Sniffin’ Sticks, Burghart) and taste function was measured using a taste recognition threshold test (Taste Strips, Burghart), where a lower test score equals a worse functioning. Lung function was assessed with spirometry.

Preliminary results
Thus far, 29 COPD patients, (FEV1% pred 51.8%, 10 females) and 23 age-matched controls (FEV1%pred 127.1%, 10 females) have completed the study. COPD patients reported significantly worse subjective taste (23.6 vs 19.6, p=0.008) and smell function (21.9 vs 16.8, p=0.02) on the questionnaire. The objective tests too suggest a decreased taste function (9.0 vs 10.7, p=0.09) and smell threshold (5.7 vs 7.2, p=0.07) and a worse smell identification score (10.3 vs 12.2, p=0.01) in COPD patients compared to controls.

Preliminary Conclusion
Our tentative Conclusion is that COPD patients indeed experience decreased chemosensory function, which could prompt a shift in food preferences and thereby may impair their ability to enjoy foods and affect their nutritional intake.