COVID-19 related olfactory dysfunction prevalence and natural history in ambulatory patients

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  • Bacon, Daniel R.
    • Affiliation: School of Medicine, Department of Otolaryngology/Head and Neck Surgery
  • Onuorah, Princess
    • Affiliation: School of Medicine, Department of Otolaryngology/Head and Neck Surgery
  • Murr, Alexander
    • Affiliation: School of Medicine, Department of Otolaryngology/Head and Neck Surgery
  • Wiesen, Christopher A.
    • Affiliation: Odum Institute for Research in Social Science
  • Oakes, Jonathan
    • Affiliation: School of Medicine, Institute for Global Health and Infectious Diseases
  • Thorp, Brian D.
    • Affiliation: School of Medicine, Department of Otolaryngology/Head and Neck Surgery
  • Zanation, Adam M.
    • Affiliation: School of Medicine, Department of Otolaryngology/Head and Neck Surgery
  • Ebert Jr., Charles S.
    • Affiliation: School of Medicine, Department of Otolaryngology/Head and Neck Surgery
  • Wohl, David
    • Affiliation: School of Medicine, Department of Medicine
  • Senior, Brent A.
    • Affiliation: School of Medicine, Department of Otolaryngology/Head and Neck Surgery
  • Kimple, Adam J.
    • Affiliation: School of Medicine, Department of Otolaryngology/Head and Neck Surgery
Abstract
  • Background: Evidence regarding prevalence of COVID-19 related Olfactory dysfunction (OD) among ambulatory patients is highly variable due to heterogeneity in study population and measurement methods. Relatively few studies have longitudinally investigated OD in ambulatory patients with objective methods. Methods: We performed a longitudinal study to investigate OD among COVID-19 ambulatory patients compared to symptomatic controls who test negative. Out of 81 patients enrolled, 45 COVID-19 positive patients and an age- and sex-matched symptomatic control group completed the BSIT and a questionnaire about smell, taste and nasal symptoms. These were repeated at 1 month for all COVID-19 positive patients, and again at 3 months for those who exhibited persistent OD. Analysis was performed by mixed-effects linear and logistic regression. Results: 46.7% of COVID-19 patients compared to 3.8% of symptomatic controls exhibited OD at 1-week post diagnosis (p<0.001). At 1 month, 16.7%, (6 of 36), of COVID-19 patients had persistent OD. Mean improvement in BSIT score in COVID-19 patients between 1-week BSIT and 1 month follow-up was 2.0 (95% CI 1.00 – 3.00, p<0.001). OD did not correlate with nasal congestion (r= −0.25, 95% CI, −0.52 to 0.06, p=0.12). Conclusions: Ambulatory COVID-19 patients exhibited OD significantly more frequently than symptomatic controls. Most patients regained normal olfaction by 1 month. The BSIT is a simple validated and objective test to investigate the prevalence of OD in ambulatory patients. OD did not correlate with nasal congestion which suggests a congestion-independent mechanism of OD.
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  • Article
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  • In Copyright
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  • Attribution 3.0 United States
Journal title
  • Rhinology Online
Journal volume
  • 4
Page start
  • 131
Page end
  • 139
Language
  • English
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  • Postprint

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