Olfactory function in children is most commonly evaluated using the odour identification test despite the fact that it is difficult to properly name odorants for young children. The goal of this study was to evaluate the pleasantness rating of odorants by children. The participants were 182 healthy children: the first group included 63 girls and 59 boys (aged 6-7) and the second included 31 girls and 29 boys (aged 11-12). We assessed olfaction using (1) standard method of odorant identification using a U-Sniff test and (2) classifying the hedonic tone of the odorants into 5 categories. The identification test's median differed in younger and older groups of children; the median was 8 and 10 respectively (p < 0.01). The unpleasant hedonic tones were butter, fish and onion. The pleasant hedonic tones were apple, orange and peach. The younger usually categorised hedonic tones as pleasant, compared with the older children, who categorised the odorant's hedonic tones more often as neutral (p < 0.01).Conclusion: This study demonstrated that older children are able to identify odours better than younger ones. The categorisation of hedonic tones differed depending on the subject's age. The younger children tended to categorise odorants as being pleasant and older children as neutral. What is Known: • The test of odour identification is the most popular because it is reliable, practical, rapid and commercially available. • The ability to identify odours improves with age in children. What is New: • The categorisation of hedonic tones differs depending on age. The older children categorise odorants as being neutral significantly more often than younger children do.

Department of Clinical Psychology Pardubice Hospital Kyjevská 44 Pardubice Czech Republic

Department of Otorhinolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery Pardubice Hospital Kyjevská 44 Pardubice Czech Republic

Faculty of Health Studies University of Pardubice Průmyslová 395 532 10 Pardubice Czech Republic

Zobrazit více v PubMed

Doty RL, Shaman P, Dann M (1984) Development of the University of Pennsylvania Smell Identification Test: a standardized microencapsulated test of olfactory function. Physiol Behav 32(3):489–502 DOI

Hummel T, Sekinger B, Wolf SR, Pauli E, Kobal G (1997) ‘Sniffin’ sticks’: olfactory performance assessed by the combined testing of odor identification, odor discrimination and olfactory threshold. Chem Senses 22(1):39–52 DOI

Schriever VA, Agosin E, Altundag A, Avni H, Cao Van H, Cornejo C, de Los Santos G, Fishman G, Fragola C, Guarneros M et al (2018) Development of an international odor identification test for children: the Universal Sniff Test. J Pediatr 198:265–272 DOI

Frank RA, Gesteland RC, Bailie J, Rybalsky K, Seiden A, Dulay MF (2006) Characterization of the sniff magnitude test. Arch Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg 132(5):532–536 DOI

Santos DV, Reiter ER, DiNardo LJ, Costanzo RM (2004) Hazardous events associated with impaired olfactory function. Arch Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg 130(3):317–319 DOI

Vodička J, Meloun M, Příhodová L (2010) Brief evaluation of pleasantness of olfactory and trigeminal stimulants. Arch Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg 136(9):901–907. https://doi.org/10.1001/archoto.2010.150 PubMed DOI

Bensafi M, Rouby C, Farget V, Bertrand B, Vigouroux M, Holley A (2002) Autonomic nervous system responses to odours: the role of pleasantness and arousal. Chem Senses 27(8):703–709 DOI

Cameron EL (2018) Olfactory perception in children. World J Otorhinolaryngol Head Neck Surg 4(1):57–66. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wjorl.2018.02.002.eCollection PubMed DOI PMC

Obrebowski A, Obrebowska-Karsznia Z, Gawliński M (2000) Smell and taste in children with simple obesity. Int J Pediatr Otorhinolaryngol 55(3):191–196 DOI

Schriever VA, Studt F, Smitka M, Grosser K, Hummel T (2014) Olfactory function after mild head injury in children. Chem Senses 39(4):343–347 DOI

Bensafi M, Rinck F, Schaal B, Rouby C (2007) Verbal cues modulate hedonic perception of odors in 5-year-old children as well as in adults. Chem Senses 32(9):855–862 DOI

Hrdlička M, Vodička J, Havlovicová M, Urbánek T, Blatný M, Dudová I (2011) Brief report: significant differences in perceived odor pleasantness found in children with ASD. J Autism Dev Disord 41(4):524–527 DOI

Martinec Nováková L, Plotěná D, Roberts SC, Havlíček J (2015) Positive relationship between odor identification and affective responses of negatively valenced odors. Front Psychol 6:607 DOI

Dalton P, Mennella JA, Cowart BJ, Maute C, Pribitkin EA, Reilly JS (2009) Evaluating the prevalence of olfactory dysfunction in a pediatric population. Ann N Y Acad Sci 1170:537–542 DOI