Prevalence of anosmia among COVID-19 patients in Taif City, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

OBJECTIVES: To assess the prevalence of anosmia in coronavirus-19 (COVID-19) patients. Coronavirus-19-related anosmia and hyposmia is a new emerging concept in the medical literature. METHODS: A retrospective study on COVID-19 patients with anosmia and hyposmia was performed during the period between May-July, 2020. The inclusion criteria were all clinically stable COVID-19 patients less than 15 years old with positive reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Patients who refused to participate or leave incomplete questions were excluded. In this study, we investigated 1022 patients who met our criteria. RESULTS: Olfactory dysfunction (OD) was reported by 53% of our COVID-19 patients, of which 32.7% were anosmic and 20.3% were hyposmic. Other neurological symptoms included ageusia (51.4%), fatigue (63%), myalgia (59.2%), and headache (50.9%), all of which showed significant association with OD. In addition, anosmia had a significant association with young age and female gender. However, there was no association between OD and pre-existing neurological disease. CONCLUSION: Half of our COVID-19 patients presented OD (anosmia/hyposmia), which often associated with ageusia and many neurological symptoms.

Advantages and disadvantages of telemedicine during the COVID-19 pandemic era among physicians in Taif, Saudi Arabia.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of telemedicine among physicians during the COVID-19 pandemic. To assess the awareness about telemedicine among physicians and determine their opinions about telemedicine in the post-pandemic era. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted at government hospitals (King Faisal Medical Complex [KFMC]-King Abdulaziz Specialist Hospital [KASH]) in Taif, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), from May-August 2020. Taif is a small city in the western region of KSA with a population of 689,000 and 2 main hospitals (KFMC & KASH) which also serve rural areas close to Taif city. A total of 36 physicians practiced telemedicine, only 25 physicians accepted to participate in this study. RESULTS: Thirty-six percent of the responders believed that telemedicine could improve the effectiveness of therapeutic intervention and 44% believed that the quality of care was enhanced using telemedicine. Difficulty in reaching the correct diagnosis due to the lack of physical examination was one of the disadvantages that faced the participants. CONCLUSION: Telemedicine should be part of medical services but should not completely replace physicians' personal interaction. Telemedicine could be continued for stable remotely residing patients even after the COVID-19 pandemic.