Olfactory Dysfunction and Sinonasal Symptomatology in COVID‐19: Prevalence, Severity, Timing, and Associated Characteristics

Abstract

<jats:sec><jats:title>Objective</jats:title><jats:p> Olfactory dysfunction (OD)—hyposmia or anosmia—is a symptom of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by the novel coronavirus, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). We sought to better determine prevalence, severity, and timing of OD in COVID-19 relative to other sinonasal and pulmonary symptoms. </jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Study Design</jats:title><jats:p> Prospective, cross-sectional. </jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Setting</jats:title><jats:p> Regional/cantonal hospital. </jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Subjects</jats:title><jats:p> In total, 103 patients diagnosed with COVID-19 with reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR)–based testing. </jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Methods</jats:title><jats:p> All patients testing positive for COVID-19 at Kantonsspital Aarau over a 6-week period were approached. Timing and severity (at its worst, on scale of 0 [none], 1 [mild], 2 [moderate], and 3 [severe]) of OD, loss of taste, nasal obstruction, rhinorrhea/mucus production, fever, cough and shortness of breath (SOB) were assessed for each patient. </jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Results</jats:title><jats:p> Prevalence of OD was 61.2%, and severity of OD was strongly correlated with severity of loss of taste experienced (ρ = 0.87, P &lt; .001). OD was experienced on the first day of COVID-19 by 8.7% and overall occurred at median infection day 3 (mean, 3.4; range, 0-12). Most experiencing OD reported anosmia, and mean severity of all with OD was moderate to severe (mean [SD], 2.7 [0.6]). Nasal obstruction (49.5%) and rhinorrhea (35.0%) were frequently reported but not correlated with OD. SOB was more severe in patients with OD. OD was associated negatively with older age (OR, 0.96; 95% CI, 0.93-0.99; P = .007) and positively with female sex (OR, 2.46; 95% CI, 0.98-6.19; P = .056). </jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Conclusions</jats:title><jats:p> OD is highly prevalent during COVID-19, occurring early and severely, often in conjunction with loss of taste. OD is associated negatively with older age and positively with female sex. Patients with OD may also experience more severe SOB. </jats:p></jats:sec>

Prevalence of Anosmia and Ageusia in Patients with COVID-19 at a Primary Health Center, Doha, Qatar

“…However, our study reported low prevalence of smokers (20%) in patients with the COVID-19 disease. This nding was similar to Speth et al study [11] who they reported that 8.8% of their patients were current smokers. The current study and Speth et al studies didn't nd an explanation of this contradiction.…”

“…Many investigations reported that younger patients had a positive impact on the resolution of the STA [11][14] [21]. Despite, approximately 75 % of the patients were more than 30 years, our study found that the age was not considered a signi cant factor in relation with a resolution of anosmia and ageusia (p-value>0.05).…”

“…Qiu et al multi-centric case series study found that 41% of the COVID-19 patients complained from STA [10]. Speth et al reported that the prevalence rate of olfactory dysfunction was 61.2% [11]. Paderno et al showed that the olfactory and gustatory dysfunctions were seen in 83% and 89% of patients, respectively [12].…”

Proposal of COVID-19 Clinical Risk Score for the management of suspected COVID-19 cases: a case control study

“…The signi cant differences between the two groups were found in the rates of sore throat and olfactory and gustatory disturbances. Although the symptoms of COVID-19 have been described as nonspeci c, it has been recently found that olfactory and gustatory disturbances are characteristic of patients with COVID-19 [6,14,15]. The present study also con rmed that olfactory and taste disorders are more frequent in patients with COVID-19 than in suspected patients.…”

Prevalence and Recovery of Olfactory Dysfunction in 1,363 patients with coronavirus disease 2019: A Multicenter Longitudinal Study.

“…Similar ndings have been reported in the study of Speth et al who investigated self-reported OD in 103 COVID-19 patients. 18 Although a signi cant p-value, we need to remain cautious in the interpretation of this results for two reasons. On the one hand, the association is signi cant but exhibited a low correlation coe cient (r s =0.246).…”