Skip Navigation


Chemical Senses Advance Access originally published online on May 6, 2008
Chemical Senses 2008 33(6):503-507; doi:10.1093/chemse/bjn017
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
33/6/503    most recent
bjn017v1
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Disclaimer
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Armstrong, J. E.
Right arrow Articles by Laing, O. N.
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Armstrong, J. E.
Right arrow Articles by Laing, O. N.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

© The Author 2008. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Olfactory Function in Australian Aboriginal Children and Chronic Otitis Media

Jessica E. Armstrong1,2, David G. Laing1,2, Fiona J. Wilkes3 and Olga N. Laing4

1 School of Women and Children's Health, Faculty of Medicine, University of New South Wales 2 Sydney Children's Hospital, Level 3, High Street, Randwick, New South Wales 2031, Australia 3 School of Psychology, University of Western Sydney, New South Wales, Australia 4 Consultant, Sydney, Australia

Correspondence to be sent to: David G. Laing, School of Women and Children's Health, Faculty of Medicine, University of New South Wales, Level 3, Sydney Children's Hospital, High Street, Randwick, New South Wales 2031, Australia. e-mail: d.laing{at}unsw.edu.au


  Abstract

Chronic suppurative otitis media (CSOM), a severe form of middle ear infection, affects most Australian Aboriginal children with up to 50% in some communities suffering hearing loss as a consequence. To date, there is no information on whether repeated exposure to the pathogens that characterize CSOM and that are present in the upper respiratory airway affect olfactory function. Accordingly, this study aimed to determine whether 1) there was a high prevalence of olfactory loss in Aboriginal children and 2) hearing loss is a predictor of olfactory loss. Two hundred and sixty one 9- to 12-year-old Aboriginal children from 16 rural communities reported to have high prevalences of CSOM and hearing loss were assessed for olfactory loss using a 16-odor identification test and hearing loss. One child was found to be anosmic, 4 were slightly hyposmic, and 42 had hearing loss. No relationship was found between olfactory loss and hearing loss. The test–retest reliability of the 16-odor identification test was 0.98. It was concluded that CSOM does not appear to affect olfactory function in the long term and that hearing loss in Aboriginal children is not a predictor of olfactory loss.

Key words: Aboriginal children, hearing loss, olfaction, otitis media

Accepted 8 April 2008


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?




Disclaimer:
Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.