Abstract
The elucidation of odour awareness in children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) is important. We compared the odour awareness of young children with ASD with those of typical development (TD) children using the Children’s Olfactory Behavior in Everyday Life (COBEL) questionnaire, which is a self-report measure that mainly assesses odour awareness. Forty-five young boys (aged 5–6 years), including 20 children with ASD and 25 TD children, participated in this study. The total COBEL score of the young children with ASD was lower than that of the TD children (p < 0.01). Moreover, the total COBEL score was significantly correlated with the total VABS II score (p < 0.05). Our results improve understanding of the odour awareness in children with ASD.
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We have no financial relationships to disclose. The authors gratefully acknowledge the contribution of the participants.
Funding
Funding was provided by Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (Grant No. 15K21031), the ERATO Touhara Chemosensory Signal Project and the Center of Innovation Program from the Japan Science and Technology Agency, JST, Japan.
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HK designed the study, conducted the experiment, performed the statistical analyses, analysed and interpreted the data, and drafted the manuscript. MO, YY, TI, CH, DS, RI, ST, AK, YM and MK conceived the study, participated in its design, assisted with the data collection and scoring of the behavioural measures, analysed and interpreted the data, participated in the drafting of the manuscript and critically revised the manuscript for important intellectual content. MK was involved in the final approval of the version to be published. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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All procedures involving human participants were conducted in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.
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Participants were recruited from Kanazawa University. After a complete explanation of the study, all the participants and their parents provided written, informed consent. All participants and their parents agreed to participate in the study.
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Kumazaki, H., Okamoto, M., Yoshimura, Y. et al. Brief Report: Odour Awareness in Young Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders. J Autism Dev Disord 50, 1809–1815 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-018-3710-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-018-3710-y