# Accuracy of odor-based microorganism identification by microbiological technologists with different years of experience: A cross-sectional study

## TL;DR

This study found that identifying microorganisms by their odor is difficult, even for experienced microbiological technologists.

## Contribution

The study demonstrates that years of experience do not improve odor-based microbial identification accuracy.

## Key findings

- Years of experience were not significantly associated with odor identification accuracy.
- Microorganism identification based solely on odor was found to be challenging.
- Incorporating additional information like visual cues may improve identification accuracy.

## Abstract

Elucidating the characteristic odors of microbes can facilitate microorganism identification. This study aimed to evaluate the accuracy of microbial identification based on odor and its association with years of experience among microbiological technologists.

A cross-sectional study was conducted on February 19, 2023, in Osaka, Japan, in a laboratory capable of handling microorganisms that were rated at or below biosafety level 2. This study included 70 microbiological technologists (including 45 women) with a mean experience of 7.1 years (standard deviation, 5.7). Ten bacterial strains with distinct odors were selected. Participants were blindfolded and asked to identify the bacterial strains based on odor of cultured microbes alone. Linear and logistic regression analyses were used for data analysis. The primary outcome was the number of accurately identified bacterial strains per year of experience.

The number of years of experience was not significantly associated with the accuracy of odor identification (regression coefficient = 0.037 [95 % confidence interval: 0.038 to 0.113]). Additionally, generally low accuracy was noted in the identification of individual microbial species.

Our findings indicate that microorganism identification based solely on odor is challenging. Incorporating additional information, such as visual cues, may enhance the identification accuracy.

•We studied odor-based identification of microbes by microbiological technologists.•Ten bacterial strains with distinct odors were selected.•Microorganism identification based solely on odor was challenging.•Years of experience were not associated with odor identification accuracy.•Incorporation of additional information, such as visual cues, may enhance accuracy.

We studied odor-based identification of microbes by microbiological technologists.

Ten bacterial strains with distinct odors were selected.

Microorganism identification based solely on odor was challenging.

Years of experience were not associated with odor identification accuracy.

Incorporation of additional information, such as visual cues, may enhance accuracy.