Smell Screening With a Mobile Test - Summary - MDSpire

Smell Screening With a Mobile Test

  • By

  • Kathryn Wighton

  • February 5, 2026

  • 3 min

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Objective:

To evaluate the diagnostic performance of a novel mobile application-based olfactory screening test.

Approach:
    Key Findings:
    • The mobile test achieved an area under the curve of 0.87.
    • Sensitivity was 74% and specificity was 86%.
    • Participants with self-reported olfactory dysfunction scored significantly lower (2.54) than those without (3.50).
    • Test performance declined with increasing age.
    Interpretation:

    The novel olfactory screening tool is rapid, reliable, and correlates well with validated psychophysical tests.

    Limitations:
    • Conducted at a single center, limiting generalizability.
    • Only a subset of participants completed the comparator test, reducing sample size for accuracy analyses.
    • Different optimal cut points for test sets indicate they are not interchangeable.
    • The test only assessed odor identification, not other olfactory functions.
    Conclusion:

    The study suggests the mobile olfactory screening test is a promising tool for identifying olfactory dysfunction.

    Sources:

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