Long-lasting olfactory dysfunction in COVID-19 patients.
Eur Arch Otorhinolaryngol
; 279(7): 3485-3492, 2022 Jul.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1858990
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES:
Olfactory dysfunction (OD) is a common symptom of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). Although many patients have been reported to regain olfactory function within the first month, long-term observation reports vary. Therefore, we aimed to assess the course of chemosensory function in patients diagnosed with COVID-19 within 3-15 months after the infection.METHODS:
One hundred and two patients (71 females and 31 males; mean age 38.8 years) diagnosed with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 and subjective OD participated in this single-center study 111-457 days after onset of OD. Patients first performed chemosensory tests at home, followed by psychophysical testing (Sniffin' Sticks (TDI), 27-item Candy Smell Test (CST), Taste Strips Test (TST)) in the clinic. Questionnaires regarding importance of olfaction (IOQ) and olfactory-specific quality of life (QOD) were applied at both timepoints.RESULTS:
After a mean 216 days (SD 73; range 111-457) between OD onset and follow-up testing, the mean Sniffin' Sticks (TDI) score was 27.1 points (SD 5.8; range 4.25-38.5) 4.0% were anosmic, 72.5% hyposmic, and 23.5% normosmic. At follow-up testing, 73.5% of patients reported improvement, 5.9% deterioration, and 20.6% no change in OD. Moreover, full recovery of self-perceived smell, flavor, and taste was not observed. According to questionnaires, the individual importance of smell did not change, but participants showed improvement in OD-related quality of life (p < 0.001) and had increased parosmia scores (p = 0.014) at follow-up.CONCLUSION:
Our results show that long-lasting OD after SARS-CoV-2 infection is a common symptom. The majority of patients had OD in the range of hyposmia, which was confirmed by comprehensive smell tests.Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
COVID-19
/
Olfaction Disorders
Type of study:
Cohort study
/
Diagnostic study
/
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
Topics:
Long Covid
Limits:
Adult
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
Language:
English
Journal:
Eur Arch Otorhinolaryngol
Journal subject:
Otolaryngology
Year:
2022
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
S00405-021-07153-1
Similar
MEDLINE
...
LILACS
LIS