Smell diskettes as screening test of olfaction

Abstract

A screening test of olfaction was developed with reusable diskettes as applicators of 8 different odorants. Using a questionnaire with illustrations, the test was designed as a triple forced multiple choice test resulting in a score of 0 to 8 correct answers. To validate the test, 102 volunteers with normal olfaction, as well as 22 patients with subjective hyposmia or anosmia, were tested. To compare the developed test with an already validated method, the same persons also performed the sniffin' sticks screening test. The results indicate that the screening test with smell diskettes recognizes patients with normal olfaction and consistently distinguishes them from patients with hyposmia or anosmia.