Severity of Anosmia as an Early Symptom of COVID-19 Infection May Predict Lasting Loss of Smell.
Front Med (Lausanne)
; 7: 582802, 2020.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-983753
ABSTRACT
Introduction:
To evaluate the recovery rate of loss of smell (LOS) with objective olfactory testing in COVID-19 patients.Methods:
Adults with confirmed COVID-19 and self-reported sudden LOS were prospectively recruited through a public call from the University of Mons (Belgium). Epidemiological and clinical data were collected using online patient-reported outcome questionnaires. Patients benefited from objective olfactory evaluation (Sniffin-Sticks-test) and were invited to attend for repeated evaluation until scores returned to normal levels.Results:
From March 22 to May 22, 2020, 88 patients with sudden-onset LOS completed the evaluations. LOS developed after general symptoms in 44.6% of cases. Regarding objective evaluation, 22 patients (25.0%) recovered olfaction within 14 days following the onset of LOS. The smell function recovered between the 16th and the 70th day post-LOS in 48 patients (54.5%). At the time of final assessment at 2 months, 20.5% of patients (N = 18) had not achieved normal levels of olfactory function. Higher baseline severity of olfactory loss measured using Sniffin-Sticks was strongly predictive of persistent loss (p < 0.001).Conclusion:
In the first 2 months, 79.5% of patients may expect to have complete recovery of their olfactory function. The severity of olfactory loss, as detected at the first Sniffin-Sticks-test, may predict the lack of mid-term recovery.
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Type of study:
Experimental Studies
/
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
Topics:
Long Covid
Language:
English
Journal:
Front Med (Lausanne)
Year:
2020
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Fmed.2020.582802
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