Covid-19 outbreak: does the use of a surgical mask impact the sense of smell? A crossover prospective comparative study (preprint)

- We hypothesized that the surgical mask could filter some odorant particles, leading to a transient hyposmia. - A crossover prospective comparative study between 2 groups of 10 healthy volunteers was conducted to evaluate the impact of wearing a surgical mask on sense of smell by comparing the results of sniffin’ sticks test (SST) with and without a surgical mask. - All the subjects, except one, had a significantly better total score (TDI) without a mask. - 4/20 (20%) were normosmic without a mask, while being recategorized as hyposmic with a mask. - Wearing a surgical mask may reduce the sense of smell, in a cohort of young normosmic patients.