RT Journal Article
T1 Smell and Taste Dysfunction in COVID-19 Is Associated With Younger Age in Ambulatory Settings: A Multicenter Cross-Sectional Study.
A1 Izquierdo-Domínguez, A
A1 Rojas-Lechuga, M J
A1 Chiesa-Estomba, C
A1 Calvo-Henríquez, C
A1 Ninchritz-Becerra, E
A1 Soriano-Reixach, M
A1 Poletti-Serafini, D
A1 Villarreal, I M
A1 Maza-Solano, J M
A1 Moreno-Luna, R
A1 Villarroel, P P
A1 Mateos-Serrano, B
A1 Agudelo, D
A1 Valcarcel, F
A1 Del Cuvillo, A
A1 Santamaría, A
A1 Mariño-Sánchez, F
A1 Aguilar, J
A1 Vergés, P
A1 Inciarte, A
A1 Soriano, A
A1 Mullol, J
A1 Alobid, I
K1 COVID-19
K1 Hospital admission
K1 Loss of smell
K1 Loss of taste
K1 SARS-CoV-2
AB Since the initial anecdotal reports of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) from China, a growing number of studies have reported on smell and/or taste dysfunction (STD). Objective: The aim of our study was to investigate the frequency and severity of STD in COVID-19 patients and to evaluate the association with demographic characteristics, hospital admission, symptoms, comorbidities, and blood biomarkers. We performed a multicenter cross-sectional study on patients who were positive for SARS-CoV-2 (n=846) and controls (n=143) from 15 Spanish hospitals. Data on STD were collected prospectively using an in-person survey. The severity of STD was categorized using a visual analog scale. We analyzed time to onset, recovery rate, time to recovery, hospital admission, pneumonia, comorbidities, smoking, and symptoms. STD was at least 2-fold more common in COVID-19-positive patients than in controls. COVID-19-positive hospitalized patients were older, with a lower frequency of STD, and recovered earlier than outpatients. Analysis stratified by severity of STD showed that more than half of COVID-19 patients presented severe loss of smell (53.7%) or taste (52.2%); both senses were impaired in >90%. In the multivariate analysis, older age (>60 years), being hospitalized, and increased C-reactive protein were associated with a better sense of smell and/or taste. COVID-19-positive patients reported improvement in smell (45.6%) and taste (46.1%) at the time of the survey; in 90.6% this was within 2 weeks of infection. STD is a common symptom in COVID-19 and presents mainly in young and nonhospitalized patients. More studies are needed to evaluate follow-up of chemosensory impairment.
SN 1018-9068
YR 2020
FD 2020-06-17
LK http://hdl.handle.net/10668/15761
UL http://hdl.handle.net/10668/15761
LA en
DS RISalud
RD Apr 19, 2025