Applying a new version of the Brazilian-Portuguese UPSIT smell test in Brazil

Abstract

Standardized olfactory tests are now available to quantitatively assess disorders of olfaction. A Brazilian-Portuguese version of the University of Pennsylvania Smell Identification Test (UPSIT) is currently being developed specifically for the Brazilian population. The most recent Brazilian-Portuguese version of the UPSIT (UPSIT-Br2) was administered to 88 Brazilian subjects who had no history of neurological or otorhinolaryngological disease. UPSIT-Br2 scores decreased with age, were lower in men than in women, and were lower in subjects with lower income. The degree to which the poorer performance of subjects with lower socio-economic status reflects lack of familiarity with test items is not known. Although this version of the UPSIT provides a sensitive and useful test of smell function for the Brazilian population, a revision of some test items is needed to achieve comparable norms to those found using the North American UPSIT in the United States. Key words: olfaction, odor, smell identification, olfactory test, smell test, UPSIT, Brazil, Portuguese, Brazilian, income.Aplicando uma nova versão brasileira do UPSIT no Brasil RESUMO Testes padronizados já estão disponíveis para testagem do olfato e uma versão em Português esta sendo desenvolvida para o University of Pennsylvania Smell Identification Test (UPSIT), especificamente para a população brasileira. A versão mais recente deste teste (chamada UPSIT-Br2) foi aplicada a 88 sujeitos brasileiros que não tinham história de qualquer problema neurológico ou otorrinolaringológico. Compatível com dados prévios da literatura, a performance no UPSIT-Br2 decaiu com a idade e foi inferior no genero masculino. Os resultados foram mais baixos em participantes de menor nível sócio-econômico e a relação deste achado com a falta de familiaridade para com os itens do teste não é conhecida. Apesar desta versão do UPSIT poder ser útil para o teste da função olfativa da população brasileira, a revisão de alguns itens se faz necessária para alcançar valores comparáveis aos dados normativos norte-americanos. Palavras-chave: olfato, olfação, teste de olfato, UPSIT, Brasil, Português, fatores socioeconômicos. A normal sense of smell is critical for safety, nutritional status, and quality of life. While the importance of olfaction is understood by the food and cosmetic industry, it is often neglected by clinicians as an important cause of morbidity and is seldom assessed in clinical practice. This is due, in part, to the fact that self-reported olfaction is unreliable. A recent study 1 compared the prevalence of olfactory im- Correspondence

Quantitative Magnetic Resonance Imaging Evaluation of the Olfactory System in Kallmann Syndrome: Correlation with a Clinical Smell Test

“…Therefore, it is not cross-culturally validated and may be affected by cultural biases. Although there is a recent UPSIT version designed for the Brazilian population, it is not yet completely validated, so the revision of some test items and more studies are needed to achieve standards comparable to those found using the test in the United States [40]. …”

Olfaction deterioration in cognitive disorders in the elderly

“…To allow the use of UPSIT in countries other than the USA, where some of the test odors may have not been familiar, a crosscultural test (CC-SIT) based upon 12 of the UPSIT smells was developed [61]. Further, UPSIT revisions have been recently proposed in other countries such as Taiwan (UPSIT-CT) [62] and Brazil (UPSIT-Br2) [63]. Regarding SST, in 1996 Kobal and colleagues introduced an eightitem olfactory screening identification test [64].…”

Iran Smell Identification Test (Iran-SIT): a Modified Version of the University of Pennsylvania Smell Identification Test (UPSIT) for Iranian Population

“…However, indeed, there are some odors in Sniffin' Sticks, which are unfamiliar for the people in some European countries (CĂtanĂ et al 2012). In recent years, many efforts have been made to standardize olfactory tests according to cultural features (Nordin et al 2002;Thomas-Danguin et al 2003;Cardesín et al 2006;Saito et al 2006;Cho et al 2009;Silveira-Moriyama et al 2010;CĂtanĂ et al 2012;Oniz et al 2013). In other words, there is no universal gold standard test for the assessment of olfactory function.…”