Six-Month Psychophysical Evaluation of Olfactory Dysfunction in Patients with COVID-19. (12th February 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Boscolo-Rizzo, Paolo; Menegaldo, Anna; Fabbris, Cristoforo; Spinato, Giacomo; Borsetto, Daniele; Vaira, Luigi Angelo; Calvanese, Leonardo; Pettorelli, Andrea; Sonego, Massimo; Frezza, Daniele; Bertolin, Andy; Cestaro, Walter; Rigoli, Roberto; D'Alessandro, Andrea; Tirelli, Giancarlo; Da Mosto, Maria Cristina; Menini, Anna; Polesel, Jerry; Hopkins, Claire
• Is Part Of: Chemical senses. Volume 46:(2021)
• Publication Date: 2021-02-12
• Subjects: anosmia -- coronavirus -- COVID-19 -- olfactory function -- SARS-CoV-2 -- smell and taste loss; Chemical senses -- Periodicals; 612.8
• DOI: 10.1093/chemse/bjab006
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0379-864X

Abstract

Abstract: This study prospectively assessed the 6-month prevalence of self-reported and psychophysically measured olfactory dysfunction in subjects with mild-to-moderate COVID-19. Self-reported smell or taste impairment was prospectively evaluated by SNOT-22 at diagnosis, 4-week, 8-week, and 6-month. At 6 months from the diagnosis, psychophysical evaluation of olfactory function was also performed using the 34-item culturally adapted University of Pennsylvania Smell Identification Test (CA-UPSIT). 145 completed both the 6-month subjective and psychophysical olfactory evaluation. According to CA-UPSIT, 87 subjects (60.0%) exhibited some smell dysfunction, with 10 patients being anosmic (6.9%) and seven being severely microsmic (4.8%). At the time CA-UPSIT was administered, a weak correlation was observed between the self-reported alteration of the sense of smell or taste and olfactory test scores (Spearman's r = −0.26). Among 112 patients who self-reported normal sense of smell at last follow-up, CA-UPSIT revealed normal smell in 46 (41.1%), mild microsmia in 46 (41.1%), moderate microsmia in 11 (9.8%), severe microsmia in 3 (2.3%), and anosmia in 6 (5.4%) patients; however, of those patients self-reporting normal smell but who were found to have hypofunction on testing, 62 out of 66 had a self-reported reduction in sense of smell or taste at an earlier time point. Despite most patients report a subjectively normal sense of smell, we observed a high percentage of persistent smell dysfunction at 6 months from the diagnosis of syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection, with 11.7% of patients being anosmic or severely microsmic. These data highlight a significant long-term rate of smell alteration in patients with previous SARS-COV-2 infection.