ABSTRACT
Background and Aims Research suggests that many individuals infected with COVID-19 experience changes in taste and smell that can persist for months after the initial infection. These sensory changes can potentially have long-term impacts on dietary choices, nutrition, and body weight. The aim of this study is to explore COVID-related changes in dietary intake among University Students. Methods A retrospective cohort design will be used to compare a cohort of University Students who experienced COVID-19 infection versus pre-existing data collected from a similar cohort prior to the pandemic. Specifically, the pre-existing data were collected between July 2017 and July 2021. Both datasets comprise of a weighed Food Record and Dutch Eating Behaviour Questionnaire. The cohort will also be asked about their experience with COVID-19 and changes in their eating behaviour since before the pandemic. Total daily energy intake, macronutrient intake and composition, will be compared across groups using an ANCOVA analysis controlling for age, gender, and ethnicity. Discussion Understanding the long-term impact of COVID-19 infection is crucial. While COVID-related sensory changes are hypothesised to have impacts on eating behaviour and dietary choices, it is challenging to perform controlled cohort studies due to the high prevalence of undetected infections. The proposed temporal analyses provide a unique opportunity to test for COVID-related impacts on eating behaviour.
Subject(s)
COVID-19ABSTRACT
The year 2020 began with a glimpse into the darkness with the onset of the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic. An invisible, threatening virus has forced many countries to practice restricted movement and impose lockdowns for the sake of their citizens? safety and well-being. In response, many business organizations have implemented various remote-work arrangements. These arrangements have spurred the use of digitalization strategies and have landed many employees in the vulnerable virtual workplace. With employees facing all these uncertainties and vulnerabilities, their commitment to their workplace could come into question. At the same time, organizations facing tremendous challenges are searching for committed employees to navigate through this turbulent time. From a strategic management perspective, organizations could revisit their internal core competencies to prevail through internal corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices. Meanwhile, the rapidly growing pace of digitalization could further augment organizations? survival and resilience. This research paper showcases the empirical outcomes of the promising match between internal CSR practices and digitalization strategy;and employees? organizational commitment during times of crisis. The results reveal that internal CSR practices positively stimulate employees? organizational commitment, while digitalization strategy intercedes in the nexus between internal CSR practices and affective commitment. The empirical outcomes shed light on business organizations and their ability to take a frugal approach in turbulent times.
ABSTRACT
Background: COVID-19 has heterogeneous manifestations, though one of the most common symptoms is a sudden loss of smell (anosmia or hyposmia). We investigated whether olfactory loss is a reliable predictor of COVID-19. Methods: This preregistered, cross-sectional study used a crowdsourced questionnaire in 23 languages to assess symptoms in individuals self-reporting recent respiratory illness. We quantified changes in chemosensory abilities during the course of the respiratory illness using 0-100 visual analog scales (VAS) for participants reporting a positive (C19+; n=4148) or negative (C19-; n=546) COVID-19 laboratory test outcome. Logistic regression models identified singular and cumulative predictors of COVID-19 status and post-COVID-19 olfactory recovery. Results: Both C19+ and C19- groups exhibited smell loss, but it was significantly larger in C19+ participants (mean{+/-}SD, C19+: -82.5{+/-}27.2 points; C19-: -59.8{+/-}37.7). Smell loss during illness was the best predictor of COVID-19 in both single and cumulative feature models (ROC AUC=0.72), with additional features providing no significant model improvement. VAS ratings of smell loss were more predictive than binary chemosensory yes/no-questions or other cardinal symptoms, such as fever or cough. Olfactory recovery within 40 days was reported for ~50% of participants and was best predicted by time since illness onset. Conclusions: As smell loss is the best predictor of COVID-19, we developed the ODoR-19 tool, a 0-10 scale to screen for recent olfactory loss. Numeric ratings [≤]2 indicate high odds of symptomatic COVID-19 (10