We evaluated a 20-item self-administered odor questionnaire for assessing olfactory function, proposed in 2003 by the Japan Rhinologic Society committee on olfaction tests. The 20-items selected based on results of olfactory studies in Japan were steamed rice, miso, seaweed, soy sauce, baked bread, butter, curry, garlic, orange, strawberry, green tea, coffee, chocolate, household gas, garbage, timber, stercus (shit), sweat, flower, and perfume. Subjects were 302 people —179 men and 123 women (average age: 35.7 years)— having no history of nasal or paranasal disease and tested between December 2004 and December 2007. Subjects were asked to score items as follows: “always smelled” (2 points); “sometimes smelled” (1 point); “never smelled” (0 points); or “unknown or no recent experience” (no score). Scores were calculated and represented using a percentage. Response was 99.3% (300/302), with two subjects excluded for reporting more than 10 “unexplainable” items. The mean score was 95.2% (n=300). Of the 302, 281 (93.0%) agreed on the number and 252 (83.4%) on the content of items. Scores correlated statistically significantly with those of a visual analogue scale (rs=0.501, p<0.0001, n=300). We concluded that the self-administered odor questionnaire is useful in assessing olfactory function in normal subjects. The next step will be to administer the questionnaire to diseased or otherwise compromised subjects to determine whether it is useful for clinically diagnosing such olfactory dysfunction.
