Cultural adaptation of sniffin’ sticks test for a Malaysian population
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
9-1-2021
Abstract
Introduction: Sniffin’ Stick test is a quantitative olfactory test first introduced in the 1990s and has since been used in several countries after cultural-based modifications. Objective: To develop a culturally adapted Sniffin’ Stick test suitable for a Malaysian population. Methods: The study was done in 3 phases. The first phase involved a questionnaire rating the familiarity of 70 odors based on a Likert scale. Sixteen items were then selected for the second phase where subjects were tested on the identification of the 16 odors. Odors recognized by less than 75 of the subjects or their distractors were replaced. These steps were repeated until all 16 odors were recognized by more than 75 of the subjects. In the final phase, the mean Odor Identification (OI) scores utilizing the newly selected 16 odors were collected among healthy individuals. Results: A total of 417 subjects participated in the study. In the first-phase, 5 odors from the original Sniffin’ Stick Test which were unfamiliar were replaced for the phase 2 of the study. In the second-phase, modifications were performed 3 times requiring change of 41 distractors and an additional odor. Finally, using the modified Sniffin Stick test version-4, preliminary results of the mean odor identification scoring for the age groups 16-35,36-55 and more than 55 years of age were obtained which showed age-related variations. Conclusion: Our study revealed cultural modifications to the original Sniffin’ Stick Test are required to validate its use in a Malaysian population. © 2021, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya. All rights reserved.
Keywords
Cultural Adaptation, Quantitative Olfactory Test, Sniffin’ Sticks Test
Divisions
otorhino,ummc
Funders
None
Publication Title
Journal of Health and Translational Medicine
Volume
24
Issue
2
Publisher
University of Malaya Medical Centre