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Chemical Senses Advance Access published online on April 4, 2008
Chemical Senses, doi:10.1093/chemse/bjn013
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© The Author 2008. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Test–Retest Reliability of the Olfactory Detection Threshold Test of the Sniffin' Sticks

Jessica Albrecht1 3, Andrea Anzinger1 3, Rainer Kopietz1, Veronika Schöpf1, Anna Maria Kleemann1, Olga Pollatos1,2 and Martin Wiesmann1

1 Department of Neuroradiology, Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich, Marchioninistrasse 15, 81377 Munich, Germany 2 Department of Psychology, Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich, Marchioninistrasse 15, 81377 Munich, Germany

Correspondence to be sent to: Jessica Albrecht, Department of Neuroradiology, Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich, Marchioninistrasse 15, 81377 Munich, Germany. e-mail: jessica.albrecht{at}med.uni-muenchen.de


  Abstract

The aim of the present study was to investigate the test–retest reliability of the olfactory detection threshold subtest of the Sniffin' Sticks test battery, if administered repeatedly on 4 time points. The detection threshold test was repeatedly conducted in 64 healthy subjects. On the first testing session, the threshold test was accomplished 3 times (T1 = 0 min, T2 = 35 min, and T3 = 105 min), representing a short-term testing. A fourth threshold test was conducted on a second testing session (T4 = 35.1 days after the first testing session), representing a long-term testing. The average scores for olfactory detection threshold for n-butanol did not differ significantly across the 4 points of time. The test–retest reliability (Pearson's r) between the 4 time points of threshold testing were in a range of 0.43–0.85 (P < 0.01). These results support the notion that the olfactory detection threshold test is a highly reliable method for repeated olfactory testing, even if the test is repeated more than once per day and over a long-term period. It is concluded that the olfactory detection threshold test of the Sniffin' Sticks is suitable for repeated testing during experimental or clinical studies.

Key words: n-butanol, odor, olfaction, repetition, sensitivity, smell

3 Authors contributed equally

Accepted 29 February 2008


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