J.R. Lechien, A. Maniaci, G. Salzano, C.M. Chiesa-Estomba, M. Mayo-Yanez, A. Saibene, G. Iannella, S. Saussez, L.A. Vaira
{"title":"Patient perception and awareness of psychophysical olfactory tests: A cross-sectional observational survey","authors":"J.R. Lechien, A. Maniaci, G. Salzano, C.M. Chiesa-Estomba, M. Mayo-Yanez, A. Saibene, G. Iannella, S. Saussez, L.A. Vaira","doi":"10.1016/j.anorl.2025.09.009","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Objectives</h3><div>To evaluate the patient perception and awareness of psychophysical olfactory testing (PT).</div></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><div>A survey was distributed to 119 consecutive patients consulting in the Dour Medical Center for olfactory dysfunction (OD) lasting for more than 6<!--> <!-->months. The survey assessed the patient opinion regarding the usefulness, advantages, and impact of PT on the olfactory check-up and follow-up. Smell sense was evaluated with threshold, discrimination and identification (TDI) test, and the Olfactory Disorder Questionnaire (ODQ).</div></div><div><h3>Results</h3><div>Survey was completed by 118 patients (99%). There were 72 females (61%). The mean age was 55.1<!--> <!-->±<!--> <!-->15.1<!--> <!-->years. There were 53 (45.0%) patients with complete smell loss, 43 (36.4%) with partial smell loss, and 22 (18.6%) with disturbed smell (parosmia). The mean TDI was 18.0<!--> <!-->±<!--> <!-->10.9. The mean ODQ was 35.8<!--> <!-->±<!--> <!-->13.9. PT are considered a supportive test for the evaluation of the OD by 66% of patients. The primary PT limitations were considered as the presence of uncommon (65.3%) or unknown odors (42.7%), and the lack of consistency with their OD (55.9%), which was associated with the wish to improve PT with daily life odors (64.4%; r<sub>s</sub> <!-->=<!--> <!-->−0.386; <em>P</em> <!-->=<!--> <!-->0.001). In 53.4% of cases, patients realized that they were able to smell some odors thanks to PT. Patients with parosmia reported less positive opinion of PT compared to those with anosmia/hyposmia.</div></div><div><h3>Conclusion</h3><div>Two thirds of patients with OD have good opinion of PT. Patients with anosmia or hyposmia reported better opinion than those with parosmia, strengthening the importance to consider specific PT dedicated to parosmia for this population. The inclusion of patients’ daily life odors in PT is a potential point of improvement for future studies.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48834,"journal":{"name":"European Annals of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Diseases","volume":"143 4","pages":"Pages 256-261"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6000,"publicationDate":"2026-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"European Annals of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Diseases","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1879729626000463","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"2026/3/5 0:00:00","PubModel":"Epub","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"OTORHINOLARYNGOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Objectives
To evaluate the patient perception and awareness of psychophysical olfactory testing (PT).
Methods
A survey was distributed to 119 consecutive patients consulting in the Dour Medical Center for olfactory dysfunction (OD) lasting for more than 6 months. The survey assessed the patient opinion regarding the usefulness, advantages, and impact of PT on the olfactory check-up and follow-up. Smell sense was evaluated with threshold, discrimination and identification (TDI) test, and the Olfactory Disorder Questionnaire (ODQ).
Results
Survey was completed by 118 patients (99%). There were 72 females (61%). The mean age was 55.1 ± 15.1 years. There were 53 (45.0%) patients with complete smell loss, 43 (36.4%) with partial smell loss, and 22 (18.6%) with disturbed smell (parosmia). The mean TDI was 18.0 ± 10.9. The mean ODQ was 35.8 ± 13.9. PT are considered a supportive test for the evaluation of the OD by 66% of patients. The primary PT limitations were considered as the presence of uncommon (65.3%) or unknown odors (42.7%), and the lack of consistency with their OD (55.9%), which was associated with the wish to improve PT with daily life odors (64.4%; rs = −0.386; P = 0.001). In 53.4% of cases, patients realized that they were able to smell some odors thanks to PT. Patients with parosmia reported less positive opinion of PT compared to those with anosmia/hyposmia.
Conclusion
Two thirds of patients with OD have good opinion of PT. Patients with anosmia or hyposmia reported better opinion than those with parosmia, strengthening the importance to consider specific PT dedicated to parosmia for this population. The inclusion of patients’ daily life odors in PT is a potential point of improvement for future studies.
期刊介绍:
European Annals of Oto-rhino-laryngology, Head and Neck diseases heir of one of the oldest otorhinolaryngology journals in Europe is the official organ of the French Society of Otorhinolaryngology (SFORL) and the the International Francophone Society of Otorhinolaryngology (SIFORL). Today six annual issues provide original peer reviewed clinical and research articles, epidemiological studies, new methodological clinical approaches and review articles giving most up-to-date insights in all areas of otology, laryngology rhinology, head and neck surgery. The European Annals also publish the SFORL guidelines and recommendations.The journal is a unique two-armed publication: the European Annals (ANORL) is an English language well referenced online journal (e-only) whereas the Annales Françaises d’ORL (AFORL), mail-order paper and online edition in French language are aimed at the French-speaking community. French language teams must submit their articles in French to the AFORL site.
Federating journal in its field, the European Annals has an Editorial board of experts with international reputation that allow to make an important contribution to communication on new research data and clinical practice by publishing high-quality articles.