Normative data for the Vietnamese smell identification test

Introduction

The 12-item Vietnamese smell identification test (VSIT) has been developed to evaluate the olfactory function of the Vietnamese population. This study aimed to investigate the normative value of the VSIT in different age groups and sexes.

Methods

This cross-sectional study was conducted at Ho Chi Minh University Medical Center, Vietnam. All participants were evaluated for odor identification ability using the VSIT. We included healthy participants aged 18 years or older with no history of olfactory disturbances.

Results

A total of 391 healthy volunteers were recruited with a mean age of 45.80 years (SD: 17.62; range: 18–86; female: 63.4 %). The tenth percentile of scores on the 0–12 VSIT scale was 8.3 in participants aged 18–29 years, 9.0 in 30–39 years, 8.0 in 40–49 years, 7.8 in 50–59 years, 7.9 in 60–69 years and 6.0 in over 70 years. Young adults (18–39 years old) had better olfactory identification ability than older adults (over 50 years), p < 0.001. There was a significant main effect of sex on VSIT score (p = 0.02), suggesting that females outperformed males. Sensitivity to 8 odors were negatively correlated with age: lemon, garlic, banana, coffee, mango, guava, apple and watermelon (p < 0.05 in all cases) whereas four odors were age-independent including orange, fish sauce, soy sauce, and fish.

Conclusion

Normative data provide guidance for assessing individual olfactory function. However, there were significant sex and age effects on olfactory identification scores on the VSIT. Therefore, future studies should be conducted to better adjust for those confounders mentioned above.