Performance of community-dwelling adults ages 55 to 75 on the University of Pennsylvania smell identification test: an item analysis.

Tests of odor identification, such as the University of Pennsylvania Smell Identification Test (UPSIT; Doty, 1995), are used in both research and clinical settings to assess the individual's sense of smell. Although previous studies have evaluated the psychometric properties of the UPSIT, little research has been conducted explicitly with unimpaired adults. This study evaluated the results of the UPSIT for 197 community-dwelling adults between the ages of 55 and 75. An item analysis identified six items that had poor hit rates in this sample. Implications of these results are discussed.