Predictors of Olfactory Impairment among Northern Iranian Population

INTRODUCTION: The performance in most smell identification tests is subjected to cultural variations. This study aimed to evaluate age, gender, and smoking-related effects on the test performance in the North of Iran. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The olfactory function of 1470 eligible subjects was assessed in this study. Moreover, this study evaluated the influence of age, gender, and education on the test scores. RESULTS: According to the results, females obtained higher mean test scores, compared to males (18.4 vs. 17.6). In general, the elderly obtained lower scores, and about 30% of the subjects who were ≥65 years of age had severe hyposmia or anosmia. Furthermore, the olfactory impairment frequency in smoker subjects was significantly more than non-smokers (P<0.001). Test scores were generally higher in subjects with higher education levels. Logistic regression analysis revealed that the total number of cigarette doses in smokers and age had a significant association with olfactory dysfunction (P value <0.001 and 0.004, respectively). Cronbach’s α of Iran-SIT was obtained at 0.78 which was more than an acceptable value of 0.7. CONCLUSION: The findings of this study revealed that a low score in the Iran-SIT correlated with smoking, older age, low education level, and gender (male).