Validity and reliability of the Questionnaire of Olfactory Disorders for Italian-speaking patients with olfactory dysfunction

Luigi Angelo Vaira; Giancarlo Tirelli; Davide Rizzo; Francesco Uderzo; Francesco Avanzini; Franco Trabalzini; Nicoletta Rivelli; Doris Burger; Luca Calabrese; Paolo Solla; Francesco Bussu; Miguel Mayo-Yáñez; Jerome R Lechien; Giacomo De Riu; Paolo Boscolo-Rizzo

doi:10.14639/0392-100X-N2736

Validity and reliability of the Questionnaire of Olfactory Disorders for Italian-speaking patients with olfactory dysfunction

Acta Otorhinolaryngol Ital. 2024 Feb;44(1):42-51. doi: 10.14639/0392-100X-N2736.

Authors

Luigi Angelo Vaira^{1

2}, Giancarlo Tirelli³, Davide Rizzo⁴, Francesco Uderzo³, Francesco Avanzini⁵, Franco Trabalzini⁶, Nicoletta Rivelli⁷, Doris Burger⁸, Luca Calabrese⁵, Paolo Solla⁹, Francesco Bussu⁴, Miguel Mayo-Yáñez¹⁰, Jerome R Lechien^{11

12}, Giacomo De Riu¹, Paolo Boscolo-Rizzo³

Affiliations

¹ Maxillofacial Surgery Operative Unit, Department of Medicine, Surgery and Pharmacy, University of Sassari, Sassari, Italy.
² PhD School of Biomedical Sciences, Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Sassari, Sassari, Italy.
³ Department of Medical, Surgical and Health Sciences, Section of Otolaryngology, University of Trieste, Trieste, Italy.
⁴ Otorhinolaryngology Operative Unit, Department of Medicine, Surgery and Pharmacy, University of Sassari, Sassari, Italy.
⁵ Department of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, Hospital of Bolzano (SABES-ASDAA), Bolzano, Italy.
⁶ Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Meyer Children's Hospital, Firenze, Italy.
⁷ Edizioni Erikson, Trento, Italy.
⁸ Goethe Institut, Padova, Italy.
⁹ Neurology Operative Unit, Department of Medicine, Surgery and Pharmacy, University of Sassari, Sassari, Italy.
¹⁰ Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery Department, Complexo Hospitalario Universitario A Coruña (CHUAC), A Coruña, Galicia, Spain.
¹¹ Department of Anatomy and Experimental Oncology, Mons School of Medicine, UMONS. Research Institute for Health Sciences and Technology, University of Mons (UMons), Mons, Belgium.
¹² Department of Otolaryngology-Head Neck Surgery, Elsan Polyclinic of Poitiers, Poitiers, France.

Abstract

Objective: To translate and validate an Italian version of the Questionnaire of Olfactory Disorders (IT-QOD).

Materials and methods: This is a prospective, multicentre study that involved patients with olfactory dysfunction (OD). Both cases and controls underwent administration of the IT-QOD, Sino-Nasal Outcome Test-22 (SNOT-22) and psychophysical evaluation of orthonasal and retronasal olfactory function.

Results: The IT-QOD was administered to 96 patients and 38 controls. The Cronbach's alpha exceeded 0.90, indicating satisfactory internal consistency. The test-retest reliability was found to be high for both parosmia (rs = 0.944) and life quality (rs = 0.969). Patients with OD had significantly higher IT-QOD scores compared to healthy individuals (p < 0.001), indicating strong internal validity. The external validity was also satisfactory, as shown by the significant correlation with SNOT-22 (rs = -0.54) and the threshold, discrimination, and identification score (rs = -0.63).

Conclusions: The IT-QOD was demonstrated to be reliable and valid to assess the impact of OD on the quality of life of Italian-speaking patients.

Keywords: anosmia; maxillo-facial surgery; olfactory dysfunction; olfactory loss; otorhinolaryngology; parosmia; quality of life; rhinology.

Publication types

Multicenter Study

MeSH terms

Humans
Italy
Olfaction Disorders* / diagnosis
Prospective Studies
Quality of Life*
Reproducibility of Results
Surveys and Questionnaires

Grants and funding

This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.