Abstract
Background: Olfaction plays a critical role in our health, emotions, social life and safety, which is why olfactory dysfunction has a great impact on a person’s life. This has been highlighted with the recent coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Despite Arabic being the fifth most commonly spoken language and one of the six official languages of the United Nations, there is no Arabic version for an olfactory-specific quality of life assessment tool.Method: The Questionnaire of Olfactory Disorders-Negative Statements (QOD-NS) is a validated questionnaire that assesses many aspects of a patient’s daily life. We translated this questionnaire to the Arabic language following European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) Quality of Life Group Translation Procedure guidelines. A pilot-testing of the Arabic version was done among 20 participants, 10 of whom were confirmed to have normosmia based on scoring at least 11/12 on the Sniffin’ Sticks (SS) olfactory testing (Group 1) and another 10 participants who reported anosmia and scored less than 7/12 on the SS test. Patients could agree, partially agree, partially disagree, or disagree with each questionnaire statement.Results: The pilot study revealed that participants with confirmed anosmia had higher questionnaire scores compared to participants with normosomia (median 22 compared to 1, p value < 0.001). For each statement on the Arabic questionnaire, all questions scored at least 80% of intra-rater reliability, and the overall intra-rater reliability was 90%.Conclusion: The Arabic translation of QOD-NS is a validated questionnaire that can be used both in academic and clinical practice.
Highlights
Olfaction, or sense of smell, is the oldest chemical sense [1]
The pilot study revealed that participants with confirmed anosmia had higher questionnaire scores compared to participants with normosomia
For each statement on the Arabic questionnaire, all questions scored at least 80% of intra-rater reliability, and the overall intrarater reliability was 90%
Summary
Sense of smell, is the oldest chemical sense [1]. Olfaction is a long, complicated process that starts with odorants dissolving in the olfactory epithelium until they reach the olfactory cortex, which processes these stimuli as a smell.Olfaction plays a critical role in our lives and acts as a safety mechanism warning us of potential harmful toxins, smoke, fire, and spoiled food, all of which can be life-threatening conditions. It is related to personal hygiene, which can make people with olfactory dysfunction socially insecure and isolated [2] It has an impact on nutritional [2,3], cultural [4], spiritual [4], and psychological aspects of our lives [3, 5]. The recent coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has highlighted the impact of anosmia on our quality of life. Olfaction plays a critical role in our health, emotions, social life and safety, which is why olfactory dysfunction has a great impact on a person’s life. This has been highlighted with the recent coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Despite Arabic being the fifth most commonly spoken language and one of the six official languages of the United Nations, there is no Arabic version for an olfactory-specific quality of life assessment tool
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