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Screening for Age-Related Olfactory Decline Using a Card-Type Odor Identification Test Designed for Use with Japanese People

  • Published:
Chemosensory Perception

Abstract

Background

A card-type odor identification test called the “Open Essence (OE),” consisting of 12 types of everyday odors familiar to Japanese people, was recently developed. In this study, we calculated the cut-off value of the OE score for screening for age-related olfactory decline.

Methods

Participants aged 23 to 91 performed the OE test. After we confirmed that the OE score differed significantly between young/middle-aged adults (under 65 years old) and elderly adults (over 65 years old), we assumed that the young/middle-aged group had normal olfactory ability, whereas the elderly group had experienced a decline in odor identification ability. We then performed receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis using the OE score.

Results

The cut-off value of the OE score for screening for age-related olfactory decline, calculated on the basis of the ROC curve, was 8.

Conclusion

Individuals with the OE scores of 7 or less may have age-related olfactory decline. Our finding suggests that this cut-off value could be used to screen Japanese people with age-related olfactory decline.

Implication

The OE test is self-administered and has a cut-off value of the OE score for screening for age-related olfactory decline. Therefore, it is expected to be useful in mass screening for elderly adults.

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Funding

This study was partially supported by JSPS KAKENHI Grant Nos. 16KT0011, 16K04418, 18H03665, and 18KT0033.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Human Informatics and Interaction Research Institute, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Tsukuba Central 6, 1-1-1 Higashi, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-8566, Japan

    Naomi Gotow & Tatsu Kobayakawa

  2. Faculty of International Studies, Osaka Sangyo University, 3-1-1 Nakagaito, Daito, Osaka, 574-8230, Japan

    Kohsuke Yamamoto

  3. The Faculty of Human Studies, Bunkyo Gakuin University, 1196 Kamekubo, Fujimino, Saitama, 356-8533, Japan

    Takefumi Kobayashi

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  1. Naomi Gotow
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  2. Kohsuke Yamamoto
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  3. Takefumi Kobayashi
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  4. Tatsu Kobayakawa
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Correspondence to Tatsu Kobayakawa.

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the ergonomic experiments committee of the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, as well as with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Gotow, N., Yamamoto, K., Kobayashi, T. et al. Screening for Age-Related Olfactory Decline Using a Card-Type Odor Identification Test Designed for Use with Japanese People. Chem. Percept. 14, 1–10 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12078-020-09279-8

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