Observational studyPeerJ2025
Sniffin' sticks smell identification test: exploring measurement properties in an adult Brazilian healthcare professionals sample.
Observational study in PeerJ, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
12 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Introduction: Olfactory evaluation has gained significant attention in both neurological and otorhinolaryngological assessments, particularly following the COVID-19 pandemic where SARS-CoV-2 infection emerged as a frequent cause of chemosensory dysfunction. The Sniffin' Sticks identification test is a widely used screening tool for olfactory function. This study aimed to investigate the psychometric properties, specifically validity evidence based on internal structure (unidimensionality) and relations to other variables (demographic effects), of the 16-item Sniffin' Sticks odor identification test (SS-16) in a homogeneous sample of highly educated young and middle-aged Brazilian adults, while exploring item-specific demographic effects. Methods: A prospective observational cross-sectional study was conducted on 144 highly educated adults. The SS-16 was administered using the 'Odor-on-lines' paradigm. Rasch analysis assessed person-item mapping and fit statistics, while multiple regression analyses determined the effects of age, sex, and education on both overall and item-specific performance. Results: Rasch analysis supported the unidimensionality of the SS-16. Item difficulty varied, with peppermint, cinnamon, and fish being easiest to identify, while apple, turpentine, and liquorice were the most challenging. Item-level analyses revealed specific demographic influences: older age was associated with poorer identification of coffee (β = -0.05, Conclusion: This study provides insights into the psychometric properties of the SS-16 in a specific sample of Brazilian adults, demonstrating both general and item-specific demographic effects on olfactory performance. The identification of item-specific influences enhances understanding of the complex interplay between biological and sociocultural factors in olfaction. While the predominance of female participants and the homogeneous high educational profile limit broader generalizability, this analysis contributes preliminary reference data for this demographic and supports the potential utility of this culturally adapted SS-16 version for clinical screening in similar Brazilian settings. Future research requires more diverse samples to establish representative Brazilian norms.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.