Methods to assess olfaction in pediatric patients: a systematic review from the international YO-IFOS study group

Objective Olfaction is an important sense in children, but its measurement is usually disregarded or neglected. There has been increasing interest in olfaction in recent years, and many olfaction assessment tests have been developed to assess pediatric patients. In this systematic review, we identify and compare different olfaction assessment tests used in the pediatric population Data sources Pubmed (Medline), the Cochrane Library, EMBASE and Trip Database. Review methods The main outcome was review of the tests used to assess olfaction. The secondary outcomes were review of differences between tests regarding sex, age, exercises and odorants. Results A total of 18 articles fulfilled the established inclusion criteria. Conclusions Olfaction assessment in children should combine different methods of evaluation, and not rely only on identification tasks. There are still many questions to answer. There is a great need for a specific test for children under 5 years old. Also, there is not a real cutoff value to define hyposmia yet; real cutoff values and values adapted to children's development are keenly needed.