Barcelona Smell Test - 24 (BAST-24): validation and smell characteristics in the healthy Spanish population.

OBJECTIVES

Smell tests for clinical use have been developed in different countries, but no single test has gained general acceptance. The objectives of the study were to evaluate the smell outcomes in a Spanish population.

METHODS

A prospective study on healthy volunteers (n = 120) without olfactory disturbances was performed. The volunteers were differentiated by gender, age, and smoking habit groups. We used a new olfactory test, the Barcelona Smell Test 24 (BAST-24) that consists of 24 odours scoring smell detection, identification, and forced choice.

RESULTS

Volunteers showed the highest scores on smell detection for both 1st (99%) and 5th cranial nerve (98%) odours. Spontaneous smell identification (54.7% and 59.3%) and forced choice (72.2% and 42.6%) scores were lower than those of smell detection, for both 1st and 5th cranial nerves respectively. On smell identification, volunteers scored higher in the left than in the right nostril. Females had better smell identification for both 1st and 5th cranial nerves (62.8%, 66.7%) than males (50.3%, 58.8%). Non-smokers had higher scores (65%) than smokers (59%) on smell identification for the 5th CN.

CONCLUSIONS

For smell identification, females, non-smokers, and left nostril had higher scores than males, smokers, and right nostril respectively. BAST-24 is a good and reliable method to test the olfactory function in the clinical practice.