Recovery rate and factors associated with smell and taste disruption in patients with coronavirus disease 2019

Abstract

Purpose To determine the occurrence of olfactory and gustatory disruptions in COVID-19 patients, their association with demographic and clinical features and prognosis. Material and methods This observational cohort study involved consecutively diagnosed COVID-19 patients tested between March the 3rd 2020 and March the 24th 2020, in a geographically defined cohort area. All COVID-19 patients were evaluated in a University Hospital. The primary outcome of interest is the prevalence of smell and taste alterations, factors associated and recovery rate. Univariate and multivariate analysis by logistic regression was performed to detect factors associated to these symptoms. Results 151 patients were included and 99 (65.3%) reported olfactory or gustatory symptoms. Olfactory dysfunction was reported by 75 patients (49.7%). Isolated anosmia was found in 2 patients (1.3%). Gustatory dysfunction was reported by 91 patients (60.3%). Factors associated with higher prevalence of smell dysfunction included age, sex, and comorbidities. The time to smell disruption development was significantly shorter in mild to moderate patients than in severe patients ( p = 0.043). In 85.3% of patients with smell disruption, the symptom had been resolved in the first 2 months. 14.7% of patients remained symptomatic after 3 months of follow-up. Conclusions Olfactory and gustatory dysfunction was common in COVID-19 patients. Smell disruption has high recovery rate and was associated with age, sex, and clinical severity. It may be beneficial to investigate the appearance of taste and/or smell disruptions in individual patients, with respect to diagnosis and prognosis.

Outlining the Prior Infection with SARS-CoV-2 study (PICOV) - preliminary findings on symptoms in nursing home residents and staff.

“…Another symptom that was reported less frequently among the geriatric population as compared to the staff was ageusia and/or anosmia. This is in agreement with previous findings [29,30] and could be attributed to normal ageing, as taste and smell tend to subside with age [31].…”

The outcome of olfactory impairment in patients with otherwise paucisymptomatic coronavirus disease 2019 during the pandemic

“…29,52,57,64 The recovery rates for follow up of 3 and 6 months were reported to be 85.3 per cent and 86 per cent, respectively. 49,65 It should be emphasised that because Covid-19 had not been confirmed by polymerase chain reaction in our patients, they were considered to be probable cases of Covid-19 according to WHO criteria. Their rate of complete recovery of smell loss was more similar to the rate of recovery of Covid-19 cases compared with other post-viral olfactory impairment.…”

The Association of “Loss of Smell” to COVID-19: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

“…A total of 11074 COVID-19 patients (mean age 46.7±10.4 years and males 46.9%) were included in the final analysis ( table 1 ). 2 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 , 45 , 46 , 47 , 48 , 49 , 50 , 51 , 52 , 53 , 54 , 55 , 56 , 57 , 58 , 59 , 60 , 61 , 62 The overall prevalence of “loss of smell” in COVID-19 patients was 52.0% (CI: 42.5%-61.6%, I 2 =99.4%) ( Figure 2 ). A total of 21 studies compared these symptoms in COVID-19 patients (n=2196) and controls (n=3425).…”