Introduction

The US NHANES 2011–2014 protocol includes a taste and smell questionnaire (CSQ) in home-based interviews and brief assessments in mobile exam centers. We report the short- and longer-term test–retest reliability and validity of this protocol against broader chemosensory measures.

Methods

A convenience sample of 73 adults (age = 39.5 ± 20.8 years) underwent the NHANES protocol at baseline, 2 weeks and 6 months. For taste, participants rated intensities of two tastants (1 M NaCl, 1 mM quinine) applied to the tongue tip and three tastants (1 M NaCl, 1 mM quinine, 0.32 M NaCl) sampled with the whole mouth. Smell function was assessed with a Pocket Smell Test™ (PST; eight-item odor identification test). The CSQ asked about chemosensory problems, distortions, and age-related changes. Broader baseline measurements were a 40-item olfactometer-generated identification task and additional whole-mouth taste intensities (1 M sucrose, 32 mM citric acid, 3.2 mM propylthiouracil).

Results

Intraclass correlations (ICCs) for NHANES taste measures showed moderate-to-good agreement after 2 weeks and 6 months (ICCs 0.42–0.71). Whole-mouth quinine intensity was significantly correlated with other taste intensities, supporting its utility as a marker for overall taste functioning. Olfactory classification from PSTs agreed for 98.5 % of participants across 2 weeks (κ = 0.85; 95 % CI 0.71–0.99) and had good correspondence with the olfactometer task. CSQ items showed good-to-excellent agreement over 6 months (ICCs 0.66–0.90).

Conclusions

These findings further support that the NHANES chemosensory protocol has moderate-to-good test–retest reliability when administered to healthy, educated adults. Despite being a brief procedure with limited measures, the NHANES taste and smell assessments provided good information when compared to broader measures of taste and smell function.

中文翻译：

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《 2011-2014年美国国家健康与营养检查调查（NHANES）中的味觉和气味协议：重测信度和效度测试》。

介绍

美国NHANES 2011–2014协议包括在家庭访问中进行的口味和气味调查表（CSQ），以及在移动考试中心进行的简短评估。我们报告了该协议针对更广泛的化学感测措施的短期和长期测试-重新测试的可靠性和有效性。

方法

在基线，2周和6个月时，对73名成人（年龄= 39.5±20.8岁）的便利样本进行了NHANES方案。对于味道，参与者对整个舌头采样的两种促味剂（1 M NaCl，1 mM奎宁）和三种促味剂（1 M NaCl，1 mM奎宁，0.32 M NaCl）的强度进行了评估。气味功能通过Pocket Smell Test™（PST；八项气味识别测试）进行评估。CSQ询问了化学感应问题，变形和与年龄相关的变化。基线测量范围更广，是40项嗅觉仪生成的鉴定任务和其他全口口味强度（1 M蔗糖，32 mM柠檬酸，3.2 mM丙基硫氧嘧啶）。

结果

NHANES品味测量的类内相关性（ICC）在2周和6个月后显示出中等至良好的一致性（ICC为0.42-0.71）。全口奎宁强度与其他味觉强度显着相关，支持其作为整体味觉功能标记的效用。来自PST的嗅觉分类在2周内同意了98.5％的参与者（κ  = 0.85； 95％CI 0.71-0.99），并且与嗅觉仪任务具有良好的对应性。CSQ项目在6个月内表现出良好至优秀的协议（ICC为0.66-0.90）。

结论

这些发现进一步证明，当将NHANES化学感应方案施用于健康，受过教育的成年人时，具有中等至良好的测试-再测试可靠性。尽管程序简短，措施有限，但与更广泛的味觉和嗅觉功能测量相比，NHANES的味觉和嗅觉评估提供了良好的信息。