Development of a Self-reported Olfactory Dysfunction Questionnaire (SODQ) to screen olfactory disorders in China

Area of Science:

• Otolaryngology
• Neuroscience
• Psychometrics

Background:

• Olfactory dysfunction diagnosis is often overlooked in routine exams and clinical practice.
• Challenges include inconvenience and lack of cross-cultural adaptability in current diagnostic methods.
• A simple, effective self-reported olfactory dysfunction questionnaire (SODQ) is needed for initial screening.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate the Self-Reported Olfactory Dysfunction Questionnaire (SODQ).
• To assess the SODQ's reliability, validity, and discriminative ability for screening olfactory disorders in China.

Main Methods:

• 121 subjects participated, with 96 completing the T&T olfactometer test and a 12-item questionnaire.
• 25 participants were retested with the SODQ after one week for reliability.
• Factor structure, reliability, validity, and discriminative ability of the SODQ were evaluated.

Main Results:

• The final SODQ comprised 10 items with a single factor.
• Excellent test-retest reliability and internal consistency were observed.
• High convergent validity with the T&T olfactory test and strong discriminative ability (AUC=0.95, cut-off=22) were found.

Conclusions:

• The SODQ is a brief, valid, and repeatable tool for screening olfactory disorders.
• It provides an effective subjective method for initial assessment of clinical olfactory dysfunction.
• The SODQ shows potential for widespread clinical application, particularly in cross-cultural contexts.