Objective olfactory outcomes
Sniffin’Sticks tests (Medisense, Groningen, Netherlands) were used to assess the objective olfactory function in a subset of patients who came from three hospitals (blinded for review). The Sniffin’Sticks test is a validated psychophysical olfactory test using 16 smell pens. Each pen was presented to individual who had to choose the adequate smell between 4 given options.8 The final score ranges from 0 (no olfaction) to 16 (perfect olfaction). Normosmia consists of score between 12-16; hyposmia is defined by a score ranging from 9 to 11 and anosmia is defined with a score <9.8 The objective evaluations were made within the 2 weeks of the onset of the olfactory disease in mild and moderate patients and 3 to 4 weeks for severe or critical patients who were in ICU. This subgroup of patients filled in the French version of the sinonasal outcome tool-22 (SNOT-22)9 simultaneously with Sniffin’Sticks tests and the subjective evaluations.