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Multicenter Study
. 2024 Feb;44(1):42-51.
doi: 10.14639/0392-100X-N2736.

Validity and reliability of the Questionnaire of Olfactory Disorders for Italian-speaking patients with olfactory dysfunction

Luigi Angelo Vaira  1   2 , Giancarlo Tirelli  3 , Davide Rizzo  4 , Francesco Uderzo  3 , Francesco Avanzini  5 , Franco Trabalzini  6 , Nicoletta Rivelli  7 , Doris Burger  8 , Luca Calabrese  5 , Paolo Solla  9 , Francesco Bussu  4 , Miguel Mayo-Yáñez  10 , Jerome R Lechien  11   12 , Giacomo De Riu  1 , Paolo Boscolo-Rizzo  3
Affiliations
Multicenter Study

Validity and reliability of the Questionnaire of Olfactory Disorders for Italian-speaking patients with olfactory dysfunction

Luigi Angelo Vaira et al. Acta Otorhinolaryngol Ital. 2024 Feb.

Abstract

Objective: To translate and validate an Italian version of the Questionnaire of Olfactory Disorders (IT-QOD).

Materials and methods: This is a prospective, multicentre study that involved patients with olfactory dysfunction (OD). Both cases and controls underwent administration of the IT-QOD, Sino-Nasal Outcome Test-22 (SNOT-22) and psychophysical evaluation of orthonasal and retronasal olfactory function.

Results: The IT-QOD was administered to 96 patients and 38 controls. The Cronbach's alpha exceeded 0.90, indicating satisfactory internal consistency. The test-retest reliability was found to be high for both parosmia (rs = 0.944) and life quality (rs = 0.969). Patients with OD had significantly higher IT-QOD scores compared to healthy individuals (p < 0.001), indicating strong internal validity. The external validity was also satisfactory, as shown by the significant correlation with SNOT-22 (rs = -0.54) and the threshold, discrimination, and identification score (rs = -0.63).

Conclusions: The IT-QOD was demonstrated to be reliable and valid to assess the impact of OD on the quality of life of Italian-speaking patients.

Keywords: anosmia; maxillo-facial surgery; olfactory dysfunction; olfactory loss; otorhinolaryngology; parosmia; quality of life; rhinology.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

This research did not receive any specific grant from fund-ing agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Subgroup analysis of the differences in parosmia and quality of life scores.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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