Test-retest reliability of the San Diego Odor Identification Test and comparison with the brief smell identification test.

PubMed ID: 19363087

Author(s): Krantz EM, Schubert CR, Dalton DS, Zhong W, Huang GH, Klein BE, Klein R, Nieto FJ, Cruickshanks KJ. Test-retest reliability of the San Diego Odor Identification Test and comparison with the brief smell identification test. Chem Senses. 2009 Jun;34(5):435-40. doi: 10.1093/chemse/bjp018. Epub 2009 Apr 10. PMID 19363087

Journal: Chemical Senses, Volume 34, Issue 5, Jun 2009

This study described the San Diego Odor Identification Test (SDOIT) reliability and compared the SDOIT and the Brief Smell Identification Test (B-SIT). Ninety participants aged 50-70 years completed this 2-visit olfaction study. During visit 1, the SDOIT and B-SIT were administered according to standard protocols. Three weeks later, participants returned to retake the SDOIT. The SDOIT score was the total number of odorants correctly identified out of 8 odorants presented, and olfactory impairment was defined as correctly identifying less than 6 odorants. The B-SIT score was the total number of odorants correctly identified out of 12 odorants presented, and participants correctly identifying less than 9 odorants were categorized as abnormal. The SDOIT reliability was high (concordance correlation coefficient = 0.85, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.79-0.91). The same score was obtained on retest for 73% of participants, whereas 18% improved, and 9% declined. Test-retest agreement was 96% for the SDOIT; 4% improved from impaired at visit 1 to unimpaired at visit 2. Overall, SDOIT impairment classification and B-SIT abnormal classification agreed in 96% of participants (kappa = 0.81, 95% CI = 0.63-0.99). In conclusion, the SDOIT showed good test-retest reliability. Agreement for impaired/abnormal olfaction was demonstrated for the SDOIT and the B-SIT.