Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2016 Feb 10;11(2):e0148937.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0148937. eCollection 2016.

Cultural Adaptation of the Portuguese Version of the "Sniffin' Sticks" Smell Test: Reliability, Validity, and Normative Data

João Carlos Ribeiro  1   2   3 , João Simões  1   2 , Filipe Silva  3 , Eduardo D Silva  2   3 , Cornelia Hummel  4 , Thomas Hummel  4 , António Paiva  1   2
Affiliations

Cultural Adaptation of the Portuguese Version of the "Sniffin' Sticks" Smell Test: Reliability, Validity, and Normative Data

João Carlos Ribeiro et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

The cross-cultural adaptation and validation of the Sniffin`Sticks test for the Portuguese population is described. Over 270 people participated in four experiments. In Experiment 1, 67 participants rated the familiarity of presented odors and seven descriptors of the original test were adapted to a Portuguese context. In Experiment 2, the Portuguese version of Sniffin`Sticks test was administered to 203 healthy participants. Older age, male gender and active smoking status were confirmed as confounding factors. The third experiment showed the validity of the Portuguese version of Sniffin`Sticks test in discriminating healthy controls from patients with olfactory dysfunction. In Experiment 4, the test-retest reliability for both the composite score (r71 = 0.86) and the identification test (r71 = 0.62) was established (p<0.001). Normative data for the Portuguese version of Sniffin`Sticks test is provided, showing good validity and reliability and effectively distinguishing patients from healthy controls with high sensitivity and specificity. The Portuguese version of Sniffin`Sticks test identification test is a clinically suitable screening tool in routine outpatient Portuguese settings.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Competing Interests: One of the authors, Thomas Hummel, is a member of the PLOS ONE editorial board.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1. Box plot of TDI score for 3 age groups and for women and men.
TDI = composite score of T, D and I. T = threshold; D = discrimination; I = Identification. The median (horizontal line) is shown within each box, the extreme of the “whiskers” indicate the central 95% of each observation. No other significant relations were observed.
Fig 2
Fig 2. Box plot comparing TDI scores between the healthy participants group and the “hyposmic” control group.
TDI = composite score of T, D and I. T = threshold; D = discrimination; I = Identification.
Fig 3
Fig 3. Area under the curve for TDI 0.86 (95%CI 0.81–0.91); Threshold 0.71 (95%CI 0.64–0.77); Discrimination 0.84 (95%CI 0.79–0.89); Identification 0.84 (95%CI 0.79–0.89), p<0.001.
TDI = composite score of T, D and I. T = threshold; D = discrimination; I = Identification.
Fig 4
Fig 4. A Bland Altman agreement plot for TDI and Identification scores for test and retest.
The middle horizontal line represents the mean, and the upper and lower lines the 95% confidence limits of the mean.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Doty RL (2012) Olfactory dysfunction in Parkinson disease. Nature Reviews Neurology 8: 329–339. 10.1038/nrneurol.2012.80 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Landis BN, Konnerth CG, Hummel T (2004) A Study on the Frequency of Olfactory Dysfunction. The Laryngoscope 114: 1764–1769. - PubMed
    1. Vennemann MM, Hummel T, Berger K (2008) The association between smoking and smell and taste impairment in the general population. Journal of neurology 255: 1121–1126. 10.1007/s00415-008-0807-9 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Doty RL, Shaman P, Kimmelman CP, Dann MS (1984) University of Pennsylvania Smell Identification Test: a rapid quantitative olfactory function test for the clinic. The Laryngoscope 94: 176–178. - PubMed
    1. Cain WS, Goodspeed RB, Gent JF, Leonard G (1988) Evaluation of olfactory dysfunction in the connecticut chemosensory clinical research center. The Laryngoscope 98: 83–88. - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms