Clinical Symptoms in Hospitalized and Self-Quarantined Patients with SARS-CoV-2 Infection in Northwestern Greece - Association with Olfactory and Gustatory Dysfunction.

Backround: We aimed to assess the relation of chemosensory dysfunction with the reported symptoms in two subgroups of patients in Northwestern Greece: the first one included patients with moderate to severe symptomatology who needed hospitalization and the second one, patients with mild symptoms who recovered at home. Methods:We used a questionnaire to select information about patient demographics, medical history and reported symptoms during infection. Three hundred COVID-19 positive patients who were identified via RT-PCR test in the University Hospital of Ioannina, Greece, were included in the present study, of which 150 recovered at home and the remaining 150 needed hospitalization. Statistical analysis was based on IBM-SPSS Statistics 26.0. Results:The majority of patients had fever during infection, while o minor percentage of those who needed hospitalization (12.67%) suffered from sore throat. There was a statistically significant difference between the loss of smell and clinical symptoms including fatigue, nose congestion, body aches and headache, and loss of taste and reported symptoms including fatigue, body aches, runny nose, headache and sore throat. Conclusion: Fever was the symptom with the highest percentage rate, while sore throat was the symptom with the lowest percentage rate. There are reported clinical symptoms related with olfactory and gustatory dysfunction during COVID-19 infection.

The Impact of Age and Gender and Their Association with Chemosensory Dysfunction, in Hospitalized and Self-Quarantine Patients with Covid-19 Infection, in Epirus, Greece.

Objective:Olfactory and gustatory dysfunction that relates with the infection from severe acute respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) has already improved. The relation between chemosensory dysfunction and age and gender in covid-19 positive patients is the main objective of the present study. Methods:We used a questionnaire to select information about medical history, patient demographics and reported symptoms during infection. Three hundred covid-19 positive patients, who underwent a RT-PCR test in the University Hospital of Ioannina, Grecce, were included in this study; 150 of them recovered at home and the remaining 150 were admitted to hospital. Statistical analysis based on ÉBM-SPSS Statistics 26.0 was done. Results:The total sample included 300 patients, of which 106 females and 194 males. There was a statistically significant difference between the subgroup of patients aged 21-25, 61-65 and 71-75 with loss of smell, that of hospitalized patients aged 41-45 with loss of smell and the subgroup of those aged 31-35 and 71-75 with loss of taste. Conclusion:There is a significant association between chemosensory dysfunction and younger age groups. Olfactory and gustatory dysfunction appears more frequently in women than men. Male gender relates with disease severity.