Olfactory-related Quality of Life Adjustments in Smell Loss during the Coronavirus-19 Pandemic. Issue 2 (March 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Liu, David T.; Prem, Bernhard; Besser, Gerold; Renner, Bertold; Mueller, Christian A.
• Is Part Of: American journal of rhinology & allergy. Volume 36:Issue 2(2022)
• Page Start: 253
• Page End: 260
• Publication Date: 2022-03
• Subjects: smell loss -- olfactory dysfunction -- anosmia -- parosmia -- COVID-19 -- quality of life -- QOD -- orthonasal -- retronasal -- flavor -- smell -- taste -- chemesthesis; Nose -- Periodicals; Allergy -- Periodicals; 616.21005
• DOI: 10.1177/19458924211053118
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1945-8924

Abstract

Background: Previous studies provided the first evidence that the importance of olfaction decreases with the duration of olfactory dysfunction (OD). Objective: To evaluate differences in olfactory-related quality of life (QoL) between patients with new-onset and persistent smell loss (>4 weeks) during the coronavirus-19 (COVID-19) pandemic and patients with persistent postinfectious OD (PIOD) that were recruited before the pandemic. Methods: This was a retrospective study that included 149 patients with self-reported OD. The olfactory-related QoL was measured using the questionnaire of OD (QOD). The QOD measures the degree to which patients (i) adjust and cope with smell loss (QOD-positive statement [QOD-PS]), (ii) suffer from distorted odor perceptions (QOD-parosmia [QOD-PAR]), and (iii) suffer from smell loss in general (QOD-negative statement [QOD-NS]). Self-perceived chemosensory function, demographics, olfactory function, and duration of smell loss were evaluated. Analyses of variance were used to depict differences in QoL-outcomes between different OD groups. Results: All patients included during the COVID-19 pandemic reported an extensive loss of chemosensory functions of smell, taste, and flavor perception. Psychophysical retronasal screening testing showed olfactory impairments in more than half of these patients. One-way analysis of variance and posthoc tests revealed that the QOD-NS was significantly higher in the new-onset OD group than the PIOD group. At the same time, the QOD-PS score was significantly higher in the PIOD and the persistent COVID-19 OD group than in the new-onset OD group. Conclusion: We showed that patients with persistent OD experienced better olfactory-related adjustment and lower QoL-impairment scores than those with recent-onset smell loss, suggesting that the olfactory-related QoL might change as a function of time after symptom onset.