Anosmia and Ageusia as Predictive Signs of COVID-19 in Healthcare Workers in Italy: A Prospective Case-Control Study.
J Clin Med
; 9(9)2020 Sep 04.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-750664
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
The aim of this study was to investigate the diagnostic accuracy of symptoms and signs in healthcare workers (HCW) with Sars-CoV-2.METHODS:
This was a case-control study. Cases consisted of symptomatic healthcare workers who had a positive SARS-CoV-2 real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test, while controls were symptomatic healthcare workers with a negative RT-PCR test. For each symptom, ROCs were plotted. Diagnostic accuracy was calculated using the sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values. A logistic regression analysis was carried out for calculating the OR (95% CI) for each symptom associated to the SARS-CoV-2 positivity.RESULTS:
We recruited 30 cases and 75 controls. Fever had the best sensitivity while dyspnea, anosmia, and ageusia had the highest specificity. The highest PPVs were found again for dyspnea (75%), anosmia (73.7%), and ageusia (66.7%). Lastly, the highest NPVs were related to anosmia (81.4%) and ageusia (79.3%). Anosmia (OR = 14.75; 95% CI 4.27-50.87), ageusia (OR = 9.18; 95% CI 2.80-30.15), and headache (OR = 3.92; 95% CI 1.45-10.56) are significantly associated to SARS-CoV-2 positivity.CONCLUSIONS:
Anosmia and ageusia should be considered in addition to the well-established fever, cough, and dyspnea. In a resource-limited setting, this method could save time and money.
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Type of study:
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
Language:
English
Year:
2020
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Jcm9092870
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