Assessing Olfactory Function in Healthy Korean Children Using the Cross-Cultural Smell Identification Test and Butanol Threshold Test

Olfaction is used to detect environmental risk, is involved in the digestion of foods for survival purposes, and performs various additional roles crucial to the propagation of the species. The loss of sensory function impacts upon normal development and learning; although evaluation methods for hearing and vision currently exist for young children, the optimal means of indexing olfactory function in this population is subject to conjecture. Olfaction development commences before birth; neonates can recognize the smell of their mother’s body at birth, and react accordingly. Furthermore, olfaction continues to develop, to external stimuli, up to 40 years of age, following which it declines gradually. Olfactory loss is caused by various factors such as inherited traits, allergies, upper airway infection, rhinosinusitis, head injury, and endocrinopathy; exposure to such factors in young children affects their overall development. Several studies have suggested clinically feasible methods of evaluating olfactory function in young children, but no such reports have concerned Korean children. Currently, the Butanol Threshold Test (BTT) and Cross-Cultural Smell Assessing Olfactory Function in Healthy Korean Children Using the Cross-Cultural Smell Identification Test and Butanol Threshold Test