Introduction

Olfactory testing helps in diagnosing olfactory dysfunction (OD). The Sniffin’ Sticks odor test kit is widely used for research and can be reused and summed scores of threshold (T), discrimination (D), and identification (I) allow comparison to normative data. Testing can be time consuming and odor pens have to be presented by an examiner. The aim of this study was to investigate for a self-administration strategy for testing T and D.

Methods

Fifty healthy subjects (30 female, 20 male, mean age 27.3 years ± 8.1, range 18–58) were included. T was tested by an examiner (T-as) in a reversed staircase manner and self-tested with randomly presented concentrations (T-rand) and ascending methods of limits (T-aml). D testing was performed with assistance (D-as) and self-administered (D-s). For self-testing, examinees were instructed to perform the “odor-curves-on-paper” method.

Results

Mean TDI was 35.9 ± 3.0, range 26.5–42.8. T-as scores were significantly lower than T-aml (p < 0.001) and T-rand (p < 0.05). T-aml was significantly faster than T-rand and T-as modalities (p < 0.001); Paired t test revealed no significant difference of D-as and D-s, in terms of scores and time needed (p > 0.05) and the mean difference was small (0.3).

Conclusion

The results of this study demonstrate the “odor-curves-on-paper” method is applicable for D and with restrictions for T testing.

Implications

Self-administration of olfactory testing using Sniffin’ Sticks can, with appropriate instructions, easily be performed and may improve patient care in personnel and (with limitations) time-restricted settings.

中文翻译：

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使用嗅探棒对气味阈值和歧视进行自我管理的测试—恢复了“纸上气味曲线”方法

介绍

嗅觉测试有助于诊断嗅觉功能障碍（OD）。Sniffin'S Sticks气味测试套件广泛用于研究，可以重复使用，并且阈值（T），辨别力（D）和标识（I）的总和可以与标准数据进行比较。测试可能很耗时，并且气味检查员必须出示气味笔。这项研究的目的是研究一种测试T和D的自我管理策略。

方法

纳入了五十名健康受试者（30名女性，20名男性，平均年龄27.3岁±8.1，范围18-58）。T由检查员（T-as）以反向阶梯的方式进行测试，并使用随机呈现的浓度（T-rand）和上升限值的方法（T-aml）进行自我测试。D测试是在协助下（D-as）和自我管理（Ds）进行的。为了进行自我测试，应要求考生执行“纸上气味曲线”方法。

结果

平均TDI为35.9±3.0，范围为26.5–42.8。T-as评分显着低于T-aml（p  <0.001）和T-rand（p  <0.05）。T-aml明显快于T-rand和T-as形式（p  <0.001）；配对t检验显示，在得分和所需时间方面，D-as和Ds没有显着差异（p  > 0.05），平均差异很小（0.3）。

结论

这项研究的结果表明，“纸上气味曲线”方法适用于D，但对T测试有限制。

含义

在适当的指导下，使用Sniffin's Sticks进行嗅觉测试的自我管理可以轻松进行，并且可以改善人员护理和（有限制）时间限制的环境。