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[Preprint]. 2021 Mar 26:2021.03.25.21254253.
doi: 10.1101/2021.03.25.21254253.

From loss to recovery: how to effectively assess chemosensory impairments during COVID-19 pandemic

Cinzia Cecchetto  1 , Antonella Di Pizio  2 , Federica Genovese  3 , Orietta Calcinoni  4 , Alberto Macchi  5 , Andreas Dunkel  2 , Kathrin Ohla  6 , Sara Spinelli  7 , Michael C Farruggia  8 , Paule V Joseph  9   10   11 , Anna Menini  12 , Elena Cantone  13 , Caterina Dinnella  7 , Maria Paola Cecchini  14 , Anna D'Errico  15 , Carla Mucignat-Caretta  16 , Valentina Parma  3   17 , Michele Dibattista  18
Affiliations

From loss to recovery: how to effectively assess chemosensory impairments during COVID-19 pandemic

Cinzia Cecchetto et al. medRxiv. .

Update in

  • Assessing the extent and timing of chemosensory impairments during COVID-19 pandemic.
    Cecchetto C, Di Pizio A, Genovese F, Calcinoni O, Macchi A, Dunkel A, Ohla K, Spinelli S, Farruggia MC, Joseph PV, Menini A, Cantone E, Dinnella C, Cecchini MP, D'Errico A, Mucignat-Caretta C, Parma V, Dibattista M. Cecchetto C, et al. Sci Rep. 2021 Sep 1;11(1):17504. doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-96987-0. Sci Rep. 2021. PMID: 34471196 Free PMC article.

Abstract

Chemosensory impairments have been established as a specific indicator of COVID-19. They affect most patients and may persist long past the resolution of respiratory symptoms, representing an unprecedented medical challenge. Since the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic started, we now know much more about smell, taste, and chemesthesis loss associated with COVID-19. However, the temporal dynamics and characteristics of recovery are still unknown. Here, capitalizing on data from the Global Consortium for Chemosensory Research (GCCR) crowdsourced survey, we assessed chemosensory abilities after the resolution of respiratory symptoms in participants diagnosed with COVID-19 during the first wave of the pandemic in Italy. This analysis led to the identification of two patterns of chemosensory recovery, limited (partial) and substantial, which were found to be associated with differential age, degrees of chemosensory loss, and regional patterns. Uncovering the self-reported phenomenology of recovery from smell, taste, and chemesthetic disorders is the first, yet essential step, to provide healthcare professionals with the tools to take purposeful and targeted action to address chemosensory disorders and its severe discomfort.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interest

The authors have no conflict of interest to report

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Loss (during - before ratings; violet) and recovery (after - during ratings; yellow) of smell (A), taste (B), and chemesthesis (C). Boxplots depict the median (horizontal black line) and quartile ranges of the distribution; white diamonds indicate the mean; whiskers indicate maximum and minimum values. The raw data are shown as dots to the right of each boxplot.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
A) Clusters of participants on chemosensory recovery identified by k-means clustering. The scatterplot shows each participant’s loading on Dimension 1 (Dim1) and Dimension 2 (Dim2) of the Principal Component Analysis. Partial = smell, taste, and chemesthesis partial recovery; Substantial = smell, taste, and chemesthesis substantial recovery B) Correlations between the three principal components with respect to recovery in smell, taste, and chemesthesis. Gray color indicates a positive correlation, whereas shades of red indicate negative correlations. Darker shades indicate stronger correlations.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
The pattern of chemosensory loss and recovery clusters in relation to days between the date of onset and completion of the questionnaire.
Figure 4.
Figure 4.
Representation of significant interaction effects of the regression models. Fitted lines of the time from onset and region interaction effects on A) smell recovery and B) taste recovery.
Figure 5.
Figure 5.
Representation of significant interaction effects of the regression models. Fitted lines of the number of symptoms and type of diagnosis on chemesthesis recovery.
Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Flow diagram presenting the selection of the observations included in the present study.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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