Prevalence, recovery and factors associated with smell and taste
disruption in patients with coronavirus disease 2019
Abstract
Abstract Objective: To determine the occurrence of olfactory and
gustatory disruptions in COVID-19 patients, their association with
demographic and clinical features and prognosis. Design: This
observational cohort study involved consecutively diagnosed COVID-19
patients tested between March the 3rd 2020 and March the 24th 2020.
Setting: A geographically defined cohort area. All COVID-19 patients
were evaluated in a University Hospital. Participants: From the first
184 consecutive patients, 32 were considered ineligible and one refused
to participate. Main Outcomes and Measures: 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 Conclusions and
Relevance: 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.