Proof-of-concept: SCENTinel 1.1 rapidly discriminates COVID-19-related olfactory disorders

Area of Science:

• Otolaryngology
• Neurology
• Infectious Diseases

Background:

• Olfactory disorders affect 20%-67% of COVID-19 patients, varying by SARS-CoV-2 variant.
• A significant need exists for rapid, population-wide olfactory screening tools.
• Current diagnostic methods lack speed and accessibility for widespread olfactory disorder detection.

Purpose of the Study:

• To establish proof-of-concept for SCENTinel 1.1, a novel, rapid, and affordable olfactory test.
• To assess SCENTinel 1.1's ability to differentiate between various olfactory disorders and normosmia.
• To evaluate the test's capacity for discriminating quantitative (anosmia, hyposmia) and qualitative (parosmia, phantosmia) smell dysfunctions.

Main Methods:

• Participants (N=287) received a SCENTinel 1.1 test via mail, assessing odor detection, intensity, identification, and pleasantness.
• Participants were categorized into normosmia (N=66), quantitative olfactory disorder (N=135), and qualitative olfactory disorder (N=86) groups.
• The test utilized four distinct odors for evaluation.

Main Results:

• SCENTinel 1.1 demonstrated high accuracy in discriminating between normosmia, quantitative, and qualitative olfactory disorder groups.
• The test successfully differentiated individual olfactory disorders, including hyposmia, parosmia, and anosmia.
• Individuals with parosmia reported lower pleasantness ratings for common odors compared to controls.

Conclusions:

• SCENTinel 1.1 serves as a viable proof-of-concept for a rapid olfactory screening tool.
• The test effectively distinguishes between quantitative and qualitative olfactory disorders.
• SCENTinel 1.1 is the first direct test capable of rapidly discriminating parosmia.