Sumner's "On testing the sense of smell" revisited

Yale J Biol Med. 1982 Sep-Dec;55(5-6):515-9.

Abstract

The routine test of olfaction need not lead to an ambiguous outcome, a rather widely held notion. A multiple-choice test of odor identification that avoided the difficulty of retrieving odor names yielded excellent resolution among the categories normosmic, hyposmic, and anosmic. The outcome agreed almost perfectly with a more complicated test of threshold and offered much encouragement for the use of odor identification in rapid screening of olfaction.

Publication types

  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Child
  • Humans
  • Methods
  • Middle Aged
  • Nervous System Diseases / diagnosis
  • Odorants
  • Olfaction Disorders / diagnosis
  • Smell / physiology*