Raising Awareness on Smelling Disorders With The SCENTinel Validation Study
I’ve never been one to participate in research studies because they didn’t appealed to me. But, when you’ve been looking for work for nearly a year, you get pretty creative with how you earn income! (Insert my short stint as an Uber Driver).
Anyway, while walking to CVS on day, I passed by a flyer advertising a smell study. That’s different, I thought. In reading through it, I understood the study tested people’s sense of smell and offered to compensation participants $30 for an hour of their time! Seemed like a win to me. So I followed up with an email because I wanted to know if there’d be any chemical scents during the research an/or adverse reactions. Thankfully, the answers were No. Once scheduling was confirmed, I was really excited to participate!
My first visit was very informative, as I had a lot of questions. In my talks with, the test’s implementor, Edith Adjei-Danquah, I learned there were a variety of smelling disorders affecting people’s daily lives, like the reduced and distorted senses of smell. Individuals were either unable to smell odors, or smelled scents where there was no odor source, like a smelling hallucination! As someone with no smelling disorder, I was oblivious to this information. I couldn’t imagine being unable to sniff my son when he was just a few days old! That newborn scent is divine! However, when you’re unaffected by what other people suffer from, you can take your privileges for granted. As a result, I’m thankful, I was able to participate and help raise awareness for smelling disorders.
Lead Investigator, Pamela Dalton initiated the SCENTinel study in 2021, in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. With the onset of this virus, our sense of smell was definitely something people were paying attention to now more than ever. Thus, the Study’s goal is to be validated against other smell tests that are currently conducted in clinics.
I sniffed markers, peeled tabs, and scratch-and-sniff sheets while participating. It was kind of fun and I thoroughly appreciated the researcher’s objectives of creating quicker ways to detect smelling disorders.
If you’re still a little skeptical, these are everyday scents, ranging from fruity aromas to common nontoxic orders.
The SCENTinel Validation Study has a goal of testing 400 participants and retesting 200. I attended my second testing on Valentines Day and as of, February 14, 2023, they are halfway through their goal! If you’re 18 or over and in the University City or surrounding areas, please pay the Smell and Health Lab a visit at 3508 Market Street (right by 3500 Market Street). It’s a tiny portion out of your day and you’ll get paid for it. Totally doable!