Smell and taste loss in COVID-19 patients: assessment outcomes in a Victorian population

Abstract

Background: It has been noted that olfactory and gustatory disturbances may precede or accompany the typical features of COVID-19, such as fever and cough. Hence, a high index of suspicion is required when patients report sudden loss of smell or taste, in order to facilitate timely diagnosis and isolation.

Aims/objectives: The aim of this study was to assess the frequency of olfactory and gustatory disturbances in COVID-19 positive patients from a cohort representative of Melbourne, Australia.

Methods: A retrospective descriptive study was conducted on patients who tested positive for COVID-19. Standardised phone consultations and online follow-up questionnaires were performed to assess clinical features of COVID-19, with a focus on smell and taste disorders.

Results: The most frequent symptoms experienced were taste and smell disturbances with 74% experiencing either smell or taste disturbance or both. Post-recovery, 34% of patients continued to experience ongoing hyposmia and 2% anosmia, whereas 28% continued to suffer from hypogeusia or ageusia.

Conclusion and significance: This study presents the high rates of improvement of both olfactory and gustatory disturbance in a short-lived period. It also highlights the importance of these symptoms in prompting appropriate testing, quarantine precautions, initiate early olfactory retraining and the potential for continued sensory disturbance.

Chinese abstract

背景：已经注意到, 嗅觉和味觉障碍可能先于或伴有COVID-19的典型特征, 例如发烧和咳嗽。因此, 当患者报告嗅觉或味觉突然丧失时, 需要高度警觉, 以利于及时诊断和隔离。

目的：本研究的目的是评估来自澳大利亚墨尔本的一个队列代表的COVID-19阳性患者的嗅觉和味觉障碍的发生频率。

方法：对COVID19检测阳性的患者进行了回顾性描述性研究。进行了标准电话咨询和在线随访问卷, 以评估COVID-19的临床特征, 重点是嗅觉和味觉障碍。

结果：最常见的症状是味觉和嗅觉障碍, 其中74％的患者经历了嗅觉或味觉障碍或两者兼有。康复后, 有34％的患者继续经历持续的味觉减退症和2％的患者经历失眠, 而28％的患者继续患有消化不良或失味症。

结论和意义：这项研究表明, 在短期内, 嗅觉和味觉障碍的改善率很高。它还强调了这些症状在促进适当的检测, 隔离预防措施, 开始进行嗅觉再训练以及持续的感觉障碍的可能性方面的重要意义。

Keywords:

• COVID-19
• hyposmia
• anosmia
• hypogeusia
• ageusia
• smell
• taste

Acknowledgements

We thank Prof. Thomas Hummel for assisting us with his expert opinion during the course of this study.

Disclosure statement

The authors have no funding, financial relationships or conflicts of interest to disclose.