What about Using Sniffin’ Sticks 12 Items Test to Screen Post-Covid-19 Olfactory Disorders?

Background Post-COVID-19 Olfactory impairment has a negative impact on quality of life. The Sniffin Sticks test 12 items (SST-12) can be used in quick olfactory disorders screening. Its evaluation in a post-covid-19 situation was the main objective of this work. Methods All patient impaired with a post-COVID olfactory loss were included while consulting to the ENT department. The clinical examination included an olfaction recovery self-assessment (VAS), a nasofibroscopy, a quality of life (QoL) assessment, the complete Sniffin’ Sticks Test (SST), and the SST-12. Results Among the 54 patients included, 92% ( n = 50) were correctly screened as olfactory impaired by SST-12. We report excellent correlations between SST-12 and SST (rho (52) = 0.98, p < 0.001), QoL(rho (52) = 0.33 p = 0.016), or VAS (rho (52) = 0.49, p < 0.001) assessments. Conclusions SST-12 is a quick and reliable tool to screen large-scale population of post-COVID-19 olfactory impaired patients and could be used in a general daily clinical practice.