Assessment of Olfactory Function in Children and Adolescents: An Overview

Valid and reliable tools for assessing olfactory function are necessary for the diagnosis of olfactory dysfunction. Olfactory testing can be challenging in a pediatric population due to shorter attention span, linguistic development, and lower olfactory experience in this age group. The aim of this article is to present an overview about olfactory tests that are suitable for a pediatric population. Publications were included when reporting new developed methods of psychophysical olfactory testing in children or adaptation and applications of existing olfactory tests for a pediatric population. Olfactory tests for all 3 major aspects of olfactory function-olfactory threshold, odor discrimination, and odor identification-were included. Olfactory tests were evaluated regarding test validity, test reliability, normative data, and test availability. The current literature shows that several tests are available to assess olfactory function in children. Especially odor identification abilities in a pediatric population are well examined and understood. Tests for olfactory threshold and odor discrimination are less frequently used. In terms of the abovementioned evaluation criteria, only a few tests met all or 3 of these 4 criteria. Based on the current literature the following tests can be recommended for valid and reliable olfactory testing in children: "U-Sniff" odor identification test, the "Sniffin' Sticks" olfactory threshold test, pBOT-6 olfactory threshold and odor identification test, NIH-Toolbox, and Smell Wheel. Age has to be considered when evaluating olfactory function in children.