Early recovery patterns of olfactory disorders in COVID-19 patients; A
clinical cohort study
Abstract
Introduction: A rapidly evolving evidence suggests that smell
dysfunction is a common symptom in COVID-19 infection with paucity of
data on its duration and recovery rate. Objectives: delineate the
different patterns of olfactory disorders recovery in patients with
COVID-19. Methods: This cross-sectional cohort study included 96
patients with olfactory complaint confirmed to be COVID-19 positive with
recent onset of anosmia. All patients were inquired for smell recovery
patterns using self-assessment questionnaires. Results: ninety six
patients completed the study with mean age 34.26±11.91 years. Most
patients had sudden anosmia 83%. Loss of smell was accompanied by
nonspecific inflammatory symptoms as low-grade fever (17%) and
generalized body ache (25%). Nasal symptoms were reported by 33% of
patients. Some patients reported comorbidities as D.M (16%),
hypertension (8%) or associated allergic rhinitis (25%), different
patterns of olfactory recovery showed 40 patients experiencing full
recovery (33.3%) while, 32 patients showed partial recovery (41.7%)
after a mean of 11 days while 24 patients (25 %) showed no recovery
within one month from onset of anosmia. Conclusion: The sudden olfactory
dysfunction is a common symptom in patients with COVID-19. Hyposmia
patients recover more rapidly than anosmic ones while the middle age
group carried the best prognosis in olfactory recovery. Females possess
better potentiality in regaining smell after recovery and the
association of comorbidities worsen the recovery rate of olfactory
dysfunction in patients with COVID19.