Objective: This study aimed to investigate the normative value of the VSIT in different age groups and genders

Background: The Vietnamese smell identification test (VSIT) with 12 odorants including orange, banana, soy sauce, fish sauce, garlic, coffee, lemon, apple, guava, mango, fish and watermelon has been developed to evaluate olfactory function for the Vietnamese population. Previous study has assessed its test-retest reliability and its validity. However, normative data for the test has not been established.

Method: A total of 391 healthy participants were recruited with a mean age of 45.80 (SD: 17.62; range: 18–86; female: 63.4%). Subjects were divided into six age groups: 18–29 years; 30–39 years; 40–49 years; 50–59 years; 60–69 years and over 70 years. We examined the effects of sex and age on VSIT scores by means of analysis of variance (ANOVA). Pairwise comparisons were Bonferroni-corrected for multiple comparisons between the 6 age groups. Chi-square analyses were also conducted to find the relationship between sex and specific VSIT items. The influence of age on the identifiability across the specific odor items was analyzed using a series of point-biserial correlations

Results: With pooled genders, the tenth percentile of VSIT scores was 8.3 in subjects aged 18-29 years, 9.0 in 30-39 years, 8.0 in 40-49 years, 7.8 in 50-59 years, 7.9 in 60-69 years and 6 in over 70 years. The young adults (18-39 years old) had better olfactory identification ability than older adults (over 50 years), p<0.001. There was a significant yet small effect of sex on VSIT score (F=3.97, p=0.047), suggesting that females (M = 9.86 ± 1.60) outperformed males (M = 9.53 ± 1.57). Correct identification rates for banana and guava were significantly higher for women than men (p<0.05). Eight odors demonstrated to be sensitive to aging were lemon (r = -0.14), garlic (r = -0.14), banana (r = -0.20), coffee (r = -0.25), mango (r = -0.26), guava (r = -0.30), apple (r = -0.15) and watermelon (r = -0.16) (p<0.05 in all case) whereas four odors were age-independent including orange, fish sauce, soy sauce and fish.

Conclusion: Normative data provide guidance for assessing individual olfactory function in relation to subject’s age. Significant gender and age effects on olfactory identification ability were revealed.

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MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/normative-data-for-the-vietnamese-smell-identification-test/