Development of Chinese odor identification test

BACKGROUND: Olfactory dysfunction significantly reduces quality of life, with a prevalence as high as 20% in the general adult population. Odor identification (OI) tests are culturally dependent and widely used in clinical and epidemiological evaluations of olfaction. We aimed to develop a Chinese odor identification test (COIT) based on the Sniffin’ Sticks identification test. METHODS: Patients (n=60) with olfactory disorders and healthy controls (n=404) were recruited in the Smell and Taste Center of a tertiary-care university hospital. Unfamiliar odors in the Sniffin’ Sticks identification test were replaced to create a 16-item COIT, which was validated with a simplified Chinese version of the Cross-culture Smell Identification Test (CC-SIT) and Sniffin’ Sticks. A test-retest reliability of COIT was also conducted. RESULTS: Six odors with a correct recognition rate <75% were replaced with familiar odors for Chinese. The COIT score significantly correlated with both Sniffin’ Sticks (r=0.755 P<0.0001) and CC-SIT score (r=0.7462 P<0.0001). Based on the testing results of an additional 120 subjects, we concluded that scores of 12–16, 7–11, and 0–6 corresponded to normosmia, hyposmia, and anosmia, respectively. The 3-month test-retest-reliability coefficient was as high as 0.83. CONCLUSIONS: The COIT is an effective tool for assessing olfactory function in the Chinese population.