What about using sniffin' sticks 12 items test to screen post-COVID-19 olfactory disorders?
Eur Arch Otorhinolaryngol 2021;
279:3477-3484. [PMID:
34716806 PMCID:
PMC8556789 DOI:
10.1007/s00405-021-07148-y]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/04/2021] [Accepted: 10/18/2021] [Indexed: 01/02/2023]
Abstract
Background
Post-COVID-19 Olfactory impairment has a negative impact on quality of life. The Sniffin Sticks test 12 items (SST-12) can be used in quick olfactory disorders screening. Its evaluation in a post-covid-19 situation was the main objective of this work.
Methods
All patient impaired with a post-COVID olfactory loss were included while consulting to the ENT department. The clinical examination included an olfaction recovery self-assessment (VAS), a nasofibroscopy, a quality of life (QoL) assessment, the complete Sniffin’ Sticks Test (SST), and the SST-12.
Results
Among the 54 patients included, 92% (n = 50) were correctly screened as olfactory impaired by SST-12. We report excellent correlations between SST-12 and SST (rho (52) = 0.98, p < 0.001), QoL(rho(52) = 0.33 p = 0.016), or VAS (rho(52) = 0.49, p < 0.001) assessments.
Conclusions
SST-12 is a quick and reliable tool to screen large-scale population of post-COVID-19 olfactory impaired patients and could be used in a general daily clinical practice.
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