Gustatory dysfunction in COVID-19 patients: a rapid systematic review on 27,687 cases

Abstract

Objective: This is a rapid systematic review concerning taste alterations in 27,687 individuals infected with SARS-CoV-2, published in the worldwide literature.Material and methods: Of the 485 articles recovered, 67 eligible studies (27,687 confirmed COVID-19 cases) were included in this analysis. We analysed the prevalence of the taste alterations in patients considering the country of origin of the studies.Results: The results show strong important differences in the overall reported prevalence of taste alterations among the different countries (from 11% of Korea to 88.8% of Belgium).Conclusions: These data highlight that there is a different geographical distribution of taste alterations in COVID-19 patients. Gustatory dysfunction seems to be an understudied symptom of COVID-19 and this may explain the inconsistencies of diagnostic criteria for COVID-19 case definition. Furthermore, this diagnostic underestimation can lead to an increased risk of contagion for the whole population and for the working classes most at risk, including the dental one.

Keywords: COVID-19; ageusia; dysgeusia; gustatory alteration; taste.