key: cord-0785574-ji9qkac8
authors: Nguyen, Nhu Ngoc; Hoang, Van Thuan; Lagier, Jean-Christophe; Raoult, Didier; Gautret, Philippe
title: Long-term persistence of olfactory and gustatory disorders in COVID-19 patients
date: 2021-01-05
journal: Clin Microbiol Infect
DOI: 10.1016/j.cmi.2020.12.021
sha: 87a2b44eb53340ee5019bb7e9a428dfde6fa4bce
doc_id: 785574
cord_uid: ji9qkac8

In the present study, we aimed to assess recovery rates at more than six months post-onset of anosmia and ageusia due to COVID-19 infection. Patients who reported anosmia and/or ageusia at the acute phase of a COVID-19 PCR-confirmed episode were retrospectively identified from a cohort of 3,737 patients seen at Hospital University institute, Marseille between 3 March and 27 April, 2020. A total of 200 patients were randomly selected. 75 (37.5%) were lost in follow-up and 125 (62.5%) answered the questionnaire. 68.1% patients recovered their sense of smell and 73.0% their sense of taste during the first six weeks following the onset of symptoms. Anosmia tended to take more time to resolve than ageusia. A total of 30 patients (24.0%) reported persistent taste and smell disorders. Female patients were more likely to report persistent symptoms than male patients (73.3% versus 26.7%, respectively, p value = 0.02). Further studies based on validated discrimination tests including psychophysical tests or electrophysiological methods should be conducted to better characterize long-term olfactory and gustative disorder in COVID-19 patients

analysis of 24 studies with data from 8,438 patients, the pooled proportions of those 18 presenting with olfactory and gustatory dysfunction were 41.0% and 38.2%, respectively [2] . 19 In our experience with 3,737 COVID-19 patients, 39.2% reported anosmia and 37.8% ageusia 20 [3] . Most studies addressing recovery rates were conducted during the first month after onset 21 of symptoms. In one monocentre study with a two month follow-up conducted in 89 French 22 patients with anosmia and or ageusia, 29 (22.7%) still reported these symptoms at day 60, 23 based on questionnaire [4]. In another multicentre study conducted in 117 Italian patients with 24 olfactory and/or gustatory disorders, 14 (12.0%) were still symptomatic at day 60, based on 25 psychophysical tests [5] . In the present study we aimed to assess recovery rates at more than test was used to compare differences between proportions when appropriate. Quantitative data 40 means were compared using Student t-test.

Of 200 patients, 75 (37.5%) were lost in follow-up and 125 (62.5%) answered the 42 questionnaire. Responding patients were relatively young with a low prevalence of 43 comorbidities and presented with non-severe COVID-19 infection (Table S1 ). Their recovery at all, while 10/23 (38.5%) reported partial recovery of gustatory sense and 3/23 54 (11.5%) no recovery at all. Female patients were more likely to report persistent symptoms 55 than male patients (73.3% versus 26.7%, respectively, p value = 0.02) (Table S2) 

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