Gender Differences in Olfactory Recognition: A Comparative Study of Odour Stick Tests in High School Students
There are two types of olfactory testing methods that can be used for screening in Japan. Both methods test detection and recognition of 12 odors commonly found in Japan. It has also been reported that the detection and recognition abilities of the sense of smell gradually decline with age. It has also been noted that the results of odor tests tend to be poorer in male than in female as they get older, from their 40s onwards. However, odour tests are not often conducted on younger generations. Therefore, this study aimed to compare whether there are gender differences in odour tests in high school students. After receiving an explanation of the study and signing a consent form, 114 high school students (47 boys and 67 girls) were given an odour test using odour sticks. Participants smelled 12 different odours and wrote the number of the option they thought was correct from six options (numbers 1 to 4 list various specific odors name, five indicates that the particular odour is unknown but that it smells like something, and number 6 indicates that it has no odour) in the answer box. The olfactory test results of boys and girls students were compared using statistical methods (chi-square test). As a result, there was no statistically significant difference between boys and girls high school students who could recognize six or more of the 12 odours familiar to Japanese people (P=0.482). However, when the results of each odour were analyzed separately, boys students recognized statistically significantly fewer doors than girls students for the odours of India ink (P=0.031*), mandarin orange (P=0.0001**), and roasted garlic (P=0.047*). The sense of smell develops little by little from infancy, peaking in the teens, and then gradually declines. Therefore, testing teenagers’ olfactory perception abilities is important. From these results, we believe it is necessary to check the smells individually, not just to count the number of correct answers. We also believe that more data is needed to see the difference in olfactory recognition between boy (male) and girl (female).
