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. 2021 Sep;278(9):3375-3380.
doi: 10.1007/s00405-021-06647-2. Epub 2021 Feb 17.

Prevalence of olfactory and taste dysfunction in COVID-19 patients: a community care facility study

Sharon H L Soh  1 , Anna See  1 , Neville W Y Teo  1 , Hiang Khoon Tan  2 , Gautham Palaniappan  1 , Melvin L A Lim  1 , Hanis B Abdul Kadir  3 , Song Tar Toh  4   5
Affiliations

Prevalence of olfactory and taste dysfunction in COVID-19 patients: a community care facility study

Sharon H L Soh et al. Eur Arch Otorhinolaryngol. 2021 Sep.

Abstract

Purpose: We aim to study the prevalence of olfactory and taste dysfunction (OTD) in subjects residing in a Community Care Facility (CCF), a center unique to Singapore that is dedicated to isolate foreign workers with COVID-19 infection who have mild disease with minimal or no symptoms.

Methods: This is a cross-sectional study analyzing data prospectively collected from COVID-19-positive subjects who were admitted into a single-center Singapore EXPO CCF from 1st May 2020 to 1st July 2020. The following variables were collected: age, gender, ethnicity, anosmia, ageusia and acute respiratory infection (ARI) symptoms. Symptoms of anosmia and ageusia were self-declared via a mandatory questionnaire administered on admission.

Results: A total of 1983 subjects were included. The overall prevalence of anosmia and ageusia is 3.0% and 2.6%, respectively. 58% of anosmic subjects have co-existent ageusia and 72.6% of anosmic subjects have no concurrent sinonasal symptoms. OTD is less likely to present in subjects who are asymptomatic for ARI, compared to those symptomatic for ARI (anosmia: 2.0% versus 4.4% p = 0.002; ageusia: 1.6% versus 4.2% p < 0.001). There is a difference in the prevalence of OTD between the different ethnic groups (Indian, Chinese, Bangladeshi and Others), with Chinese and Bangladeshi reporting a higher prevalence (p < 0.043) CONCLUSION: The true prevalence of OTD in COVID-19-positive subjects may be low with aggressive screening of all subjects, including those asymptomatic for ARI.

Keywords: Ageusia; Anosmia; Asymptomatic; COVID-19; Coronavirus; Dysfunction; Olfactory; Smell; Taste.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have no conflict of interest to disclose.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Prevalence rates of OTD, anosmia and ageusia in COVID-19 patients by ethnicities
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
a (Left) Venn diagram showing proportion of anosmic patients with and without ARI symptoms. b (Right) Venn diagram showing proportion of ageusic patients with and without ARI symptoms
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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