Nutritional Advice El MondoObjectives:
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients exhibited protean clinical manifestations. Olfactory and gustatory abnormalities (anosmia and ageusia) were observed in COVID-19 patients, but the reported prevalence varied. Therefore, this review article has been conducted.
What is the prevalence of olfactory and gustatory abnormalities (OGA) in laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 patients?
Study design:
This review article included 12 studies with a total of 1,739 COVID-19 patients with a wide range of prevalence of olfactory and gustatory abnormalities observed (5.6-94%).
Results and conclusions:
The investigators found the pooled prevalence of olfactory and gustatory abnormalities was 48.5% with high heterogeneity [I2 = 98.8%, p 0.0001].
The investigators found, in total, 15.5% had olfactory and gustatory abnormalities as their first symptom [2 = 22.6%, p = 0.27] among the patients analyzed.
The investigators found, contradictory to COVID-19 negative controls, patients with COVID-19 had a higher risk of olfactory and gustatory abnormalities [odds ratio = 5.3, I2 = 66.5%, p = 0.03].
The investigators concluded approximately half of COVID-19 patients have olfactory and gustatory abnormalities and one-seventh of them had olfactory and gustatory abnormalities as their initial symptoms. Olfactory and gustatory abnormalities are cardinal symptoms of COVID-19, which may serve as clues for early diagnosis. Diagnostic testing for SARS-CoV-2 is been suggested in patients with olfactory and gustatory abnormalities during the COVID-19 pandemic to ensure timely diagnosis and appropriate quarantine.
Original title:
One-Seventh of Patients with COVID-19 Had Olfactory and Gustatory Abnormalities as Their Initial Symptoms: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis by Chi H, Chiu NC, […], Lin CY.
Link:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32842563/
Additional information of El Mondo:
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