Reliability and validity of a brief version of the Questionnaire of Olfactory Disorders (brief QOD) in patients with olfactory dysfunction.

Background: The aim of this study was to determine the reliability and validity of the brief version of Questionnaire of Olfactory Disorders (brief QOD).

Methods: A total of 372 patients participated in this study. Olfactory function was examined using the Sniffin' Sticks test. The brief version of QOD, including 4 items concerning parosmia (QOD-P), 7 items concerning quality of life (QOD-QOL), and 3 visual analog scales to rate disease burden, awareness of the disorder and issues related to professional life (QOD-VAS), was used to assess subjective information on olfactory dysfunction. We evaluated the split-half reliability, internal consistency and validity of the brief QOD.

Results: The split-half reliability was 0.60 (QOD-P), 0.87 (QOD-QOL), and 0.66 (QOD-VAS), respectively. The Cronbach's coefficient was 0.63 (QOD-P), 0.87 (QOD-QOL), and 0.71 (QOD-VAS), respectively. Olfactory function was found to be associated with QOD-P, QOD-QOL and QOD-VAS.

Conclusions: The brief QOD is a suitable scale for the assessment of subjective severity of olfactory dysfunction for purposes such as treatment counseling, disability assessment, treatment control, and research in patients with olfactory disorder.