Effects of age and cognition on a cross-cultural paediatric adaptation of the Sniffin' Sticks Identification Test.
OBJECTIVE
To study the effects of age and cognition on the performance of children aged 3 to 18 years on a culturally adapted version of the 16 item smell identification test from Sniffin' Sticks (SS16).


METHODS
A series of pilots were conducted on 29 children aged 3 to 18 years old and 23 adults to produce an adapted version of the SS16 suitable for Brazilian children (SS16-Child). A final version was applied to 51 children alongside a picture identification test (PIT-SS16-Child) to access cognitive abilities involved in the smell identification task. In addition 20 adults performed the same tasks as a comparison group.


RESULTS
The final adapted SS16-Child was applied to 51 children with a mean age of 9.9 years (range 3-18 years, SD=4.25 years), of which 68.3% were girls. There was an independent effect of age (p<0.05) and PIT-SS16-Child (p<0.001) on the performance on the SS16-Child, and older children reached the ceiling for scoring in the cognitive and olfactory test. Pre-school children had difficulties identifying items of the test.


CONCLUSIONS
A cross-culturally adapted version of the SS16 can be used to test olfaction in children but interpretation of the results must take age and cognitive abilities into consideration.
Complex motor disorders service, Neurology Department and Physical and Occupational Therapy Department, HC-FCM, University of Campinas, UNICAMP, Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil; Neurology Department, HC-FCM, University of Campinas, UNICAMP, Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil.
Laís Orrico Donnabella
LO
Bastos
Neurology Department, HC-FCM, University of Campinas, UNICAMP, Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil.
Marilisa Mantovani
MM
Guerreiro
Reta Lila Weston Institute of Neurological Studies, UCL Institute of Neurology, London, United Kingdom.
Andrew John
AJ
Lees
Reta Lila Weston Institute of Neurological Studies, UCL Institute of Neurology, London, United Kingdom.
Thomas T
TT
Warner
Complex motor disorders service, Neurology Department and Physical and Occupational Therapy Department, HC-FCM, University of Campinas, UNICAMP, Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil; Neurology Department, HC-FCM, University of Campinas, UNICAMP, Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil; Reta Lila Weston Institute of Neurological Studies, UCL Institute of Neurology, London, United Kingdom; Medicine Department, Universidade Nove de Julho, Uninove, São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.
Laura
L
Silveira-Moriyama
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D001938:Brazil; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology*; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009812:Odorants / Q000032:analysis; D055696:Olfactory Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D012016:Reference Values; D012684:Sensory Thresholds / Q000502:physiology*; D012903:Smell / Q000502:physiology*