Quantitative instruments used to assess children's sense of smell: a review article.
OBJECTIVE
To systematically gather from the literature available the quantitative instruments used to assess the sense of smell in studies carried out with children.


METHODS
The present study included a survey in the Pubmed and Bireme platforms and in the databases of MedLine, Lilacs, regional SciELO and Web of Science, followed by selection and critical analysis of the articles found and chosen.


METHODS
We selected original articles related to the topic in question, conducted only with children in Portuguese, English, and Spanish. We excluded studies addressing other phases of human development, exclusively or concurrently with the pediatric population; studies on animals; literature review articles; dissertations; book chapters; case study articles; and editorials.


METHODS
A book report protocol was created for this study, including the following information: author, department, year, location, population/sample, age, purpose of the study, methods, and main results.


RESULTS
We found 8,451 articles by typing keywords and identifiers. Out of this total, 5,928 were excluded by the title, 2,366 by the abstract, and 123 after we read the full text. Thus, 34 articles were selected, of which 28 were repeated in the databases, totalizing 6 articles analyzed in this review.


CONCLUSIONS
We observed a lack of standardization of the quantitative instruments used to assess children's sense of smell, with great variability in the methodology of the tests, which reduces the effectiveness and reliability of the results.
Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, RN, Brazil.
Raissa Gomes Fonseca
RG
Moura
Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Recife, PE, Brazil.
Daniele Andrade
DA
Cunha
Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Recife, PE, Brazil.
Ana Carolina de Lima Gusmão
AC
Gomes
Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Recife, PE, Brazil.
Hilton Justino da
HJ
Silva
D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004864:Equipment and Supplies; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D000857:Olfaction Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012903:Smell / Q000502:physiology*