Multicenter Study

. 2020 Oct;163(4):714-721.

doi: 10.1177/0194599820934376. Epub 2020 Jun 16.

Olfactory and Gustatory Dysfunction as an Early Identifier of COVID-19 in Adults and Children: An International Multicenter Study

Chenghao Qiu¹, Chong Cui^{2

3}, Charlotte Hautefort⁴, Antje Haehner⁵, Jun Zhao⁶, Qi Yao⁷, Hui Zeng⁸, Eric J Nisenbaum⁹, Li Liu¹⁰, Yu Zhao^{2

3}, Di Zhang¹¹, Corinna G Levine⁹, Ivette Cejas⁹, Qi Dai^{2

3}, Mei Zeng¹², Philippe Herman⁴, Clement Jourdaine⁴, Katja de With¹³, Julia Draf⁵, Bing Chen^{2

3}, Dushyantha T Jayaweera¹⁴, James C Denneny 3rd¹⁵, Roy Casiano⁹, Hongmeng Yu^{2

3}, Adrien A Eshraghi⁹, Thomas Hummel⁵, Xuezhong Liu⁹, Yilai Shu^{2

3}, Hongzhou Lu¹⁰

Affiliations

¹ Center of Stomatology, Shanghai Public Health Clinical Center, Shanghai, China.
² ENT Institute and Otorhinolaryngology Department of the Affiliated Eye and ENT Hospital, State Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology, Institutes of Biomedical Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
³ NHC Key Laboratory of Hearing Medicine, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
⁴ Department of Head and Neck Surgery, Hopital Lariboisiere, University of Paris, Paris, France.
⁵ Smell and Taste Clinic, Department of Otorhinolaryngology, TU Dresden, Dresden, Germany.
⁶ Center of Pediatrics, Shanghai Public Health Clinical Center, Shanghai, China.
⁷ Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Chinese and Western Medicine Hospital of Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China.
⁸ Department of Cardiovascularology, The Third People's Hospital of Shenzhen, Shenzhen, China.
⁹ Department of Otolaryngology, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, Florida, USA.
¹⁰ Department of Infectious Diseases, Shanghai Public Health Clinical Center, Shanghai, China.
¹¹ Department of Otolaryngology, The Third People's Hospital of Shenzhen, Shenzhen, China.
¹² Department of Infectious Diseases, Children's Hospital of Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
¹³ Division of Infectious Diseases, University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus at the TU Dresden, Dresden, Germany.
¹⁴ Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, Florida, USA.
¹⁵ American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Alexandria, Virginia, USA.

PMID: 32539586
PMCID: PMC7298561
DOI: 10.1177/0194599820934376

Multicenter Study

Olfactory and Gustatory Dysfunction as an Early Identifier of COVID-19 in Adults and Children: An International Multicenter Study

Chenghao Qiu et al. Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2020 Oct.

. 2020 Oct;163(4):714-721.

doi: 10.1177/0194599820934376. Epub 2020 Jun 16.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Center of Stomatology, Shanghai Public Health Clinical Center, Shanghai, China.
² ENT Institute and Otorhinolaryngology Department of the Affiliated Eye and ENT Hospital, State Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology, Institutes of Biomedical Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
³ NHC Key Laboratory of Hearing Medicine, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
⁴ Department of Head and Neck Surgery, Hopital Lariboisiere, University of Paris, Paris, France.
⁵ Smell and Taste Clinic, Department of Otorhinolaryngology, TU Dresden, Dresden, Germany.
⁶ Center of Pediatrics, Shanghai Public Health Clinical Center, Shanghai, China.
⁷ Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Chinese and Western Medicine Hospital of Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China.
⁸ Department of Cardiovascularology, The Third People's Hospital of Shenzhen, Shenzhen, China.
⁹ Department of Otolaryngology, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, Florida, USA.
¹⁰ Department of Infectious Diseases, Shanghai Public Health Clinical Center, Shanghai, China.
¹¹ Department of Otolaryngology, The Third People's Hospital of Shenzhen, Shenzhen, China.
¹² Department of Infectious Diseases, Children's Hospital of Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
¹³ Division of Infectious Diseases, University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus at the TU Dresden, Dresden, Germany.
¹⁴ Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, Florida, USA.
¹⁵ American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Alexandria, Virginia, USA.

PMID: 32539586
PMCID: PMC7298561
DOI: 10.1177/0194599820934376

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the prevalence and characteristics of olfactory or gustatory dysfunction in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients.

Study design: Multicenter case series.

Setting: Five tertiary care hospitals (3 in China, 1 in France, 1 in Germany).

Subjects and methods: In total, 394 polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-confirmed COVID-19-positive patients were screened, and those with olfactory or gustatory dysfunction were included. Data including demographics, COVID-19 severity, patient outcome, and the incidence and degree of olfactory and/or gustatory dysfunction were collected and analyzed. The Questionnaire of Olfactory Disorders (QOD) and visual analog scale (VAS) were used to quantify olfactory and gustatory dysfunction, respectively. All subjects at 1 hospital (Shanghai) without subjective olfactory complaints underwent objective testing.

Results: Of 394 screened subjects, 161 (41%) reported olfactory and/or gustatory dysfunction and were included. Incidence of olfactory and/or gustatory disorders in Chinese (n = 239), German (n = 39), and French (n = 116) cohorts was 32%, 69%, and 49%, respectively. The median age of included subjects was 39 years, 92 of 161 (57%) were male, and 10 of 161 (6%) were children. Of included subjects, 10% had only olfactory or gustatory symptoms, and 19% had olfactory and/or gustatory complaints prior to any other COVID-19 symptom. Of subjects with objective olfactory testing, 10 of 90 demonstrated abnormal chemosensory function despite reporting normal subjective olfaction. Forty-three percent (44/102) of subjects with follow-up showed symptomatic improvement in olfaction or gustation.

Conclusions: Olfactory and/or gustatory disorders may represent early or isolated symptoms of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infection. They may serve as a useful additional screening criterion, particularly for the identification of patients in the early stages of infection.

Keywords: COVID-19; COVID-19 screening; SARS-CoV-2; anosmia; dysgeusia; gustatory dysfunction; olfactory dysfunction.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Disclosures: Competing interests: James C. Denneny III is the executive VP and CEO, AAO-HNS. All other authors have no conflicts of interest.

Sponsorships: None.

Funding source: National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 81822011, 81771013). University of Miami COVID-19 Rapid Response Grant (UM 2020-2227).

Update of

Olfactory and Gustatory Dysfunction as An Early Identifier of COVID-19 in Adults and Children: An International Multicenter Study.
Qiu C, Cui C, Hautefort C, Haehner A, Zhao J, Yao Q, Zeng H, Nisenbaum EJ, Liu L, Zhao Y, Zhang D, Levine CG, Cejas I, Dai Q, Zeng M, Herman P, Jourdaine C, de With K, Draf J, Chen B, Jayaweera DT, Denneny JC, Casiano R, Yu H, Eshraghi AA, Hummel T, Liu X, Shu Y, Lu H. Qiu C, et al. medRxiv [Preprint]. 2020 May 16:2020.05.13.20100198. doi: 10.1101/2020.05.13.20100198. medRxiv. 2020. Update in: Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2020 Oct;163(4):714-721. doi: 10.1177/0194599820934376. PMID: 32511546 Free PMC article. Updated. Preprint.

Comment in

COVID-19 and childhood asthma: Analysis of a pediatric referral hospital.
Bartha I, Bernaola M, Escudero C, Rodríguez Del Río P, Bazire R, Ibáñez Sandín MD. Bartha I, et al. Pediatr Allergy Immunol. 2022 Mar;33(3):e13757. doi: 10.1111/pai.13757. Pediatr Allergy Immunol. 2022. PMID: 35338727 Free PMC article. No abstract available.

References

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Olfactory and Gustatory Dysfunction as an Early Identifier of COVID-19 in Adults and Children: An International Multicenter Study

Affiliations

Olfactory and Gustatory Dysfunction as an Early Identifier of COVID-19 in Adults and Children: An International Multicenter Study

Authors

Affiliations

Abstract

Conflict of interest statement

Update of

Comment in

References

Publication types

MeSH terms

Grants and funding

LinkOut - more resources

Full Text Sources

Medical

Miscellaneous