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Volume: 41 - Issue: 3

First page: 142 - Last page: 151

T. Thomas-Danguin - C. Rouby - G. Sicard - M. Vigouroux - V. Farget - A. Johanson - A. Bengtzon - G. Hall - W. Ormel - C. de Graaf - F. Rousseau - J.P. Dumont

DOI: 10.4193/Rhin

A number of smell tests designed to evaluate human olfactory capabilities have been published,
but none have been validated cross-culturally. The aim of this study was therefore to
develop a reliable and quick olfactory test that could be used to evaluate efficiently the olfactory
abilities of a European population. This test, named ETOC and based on a combination
of a supra-threshold detection task and an identification task, was designed to be a cross-cultural
tool that would measure the decline in olfactory performance with ageing. Two versions
of the ETOC, one easy and one less easy, were used to test the olfactory performance of
European citizens in three countries (France, Sweden and the Netherlands). The results indicated
that neither version of the ETOC is culture-dependent, and that both give scores that
well reflect the decrease in olfactory abilities with increasing age. A retest session showed that
the less easy (and final) version of the ETOC is also highly reliable.

Rhinology 41-3: 142-151, 2003