A novel, self-administered 5-item mobile application–based olfactory screening test demonstrated good diagnostic performance for detecting olfactory dysfunction in 484 adult participants, achieving an area under the curve of 0.87 with 74% sensitivity and 86% specificity compared with a validated psychophysical standard. Test scores correlated with both the comparator olfactory test and subjective smell ratings, declined with increasing age, and suggest that this rapid, scalable tool may facilitate clinical screening for smell loss in practice.

Source: JAMA Otolaryngology – Head & Neck Surgery