COVID-19 related chemosensory changes in individuals with self-reported obesity.
Rhinology
; 60(2): 128-138, 2022 Apr 01.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1708611
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES:
Self-reported smell loss is a prominent symptom of COVID-19 infection and a potentially useful clinical tool for remote pre-screening of this disease. However, pre-existing chemosensory dysfunction with obesity may diminish the usefulness of self-reported smell loss in this vulnerable group. Here we aim to compare COVID-19 related chemosensory alterations in participants with and without obesity and determine if self-reported smell loss is predictive of lab-based COVID-19 diagnosis in both groups in the context of restrictive clinical data collection. SUBJECTS/METHODS:
In this secondary analysis of a cross-sectional global dataset, we compared self-reported chemosensory ability in participants with a respiratory illness reporting a positive (C19+; n = 5156) or a negative (C19-; n = 659) COVID-19 laboratory test outcome, who also self-reported to have obesity (C19+; n = 433, C19-; n = 86) or not.RESULTS:
Participants with obesity and without obesity reported a similar decline in smell, taste, and chemesthesis during illness. In C19+ participants with obesity, we observed a greater relative prevalence of non-chemosensory symptoms, including respiratory and GI symptoms. Critically, we found that the model previously proposed also predicts C19+ diagnosis in participants with obesity.CONCLUSIONS:
We conclude that COVID-19 respondents with obesity experience a similar self-reported chemosensory loss as those without obesity. In both groups self-reported chemosensory symptoms are similarly predictive of COVID-19 infection, thus highlighting the potential of collecting self-report of symptoms and comorbidities remotely when clinical observations are restrictive.
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
COVID-19
/
Olfaction Disorders
Type of study:
Diagnostic study
/
Experimental Studies
/
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
/
Randomized controlled trials
Topics:
Long Covid
Limits:
Humans
Language:
English
Journal:
Rhinology
Year:
2022
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Rhin21.351
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