Department of Psychology, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-3), Research Center Jülich, Wilhelm-Johnen-Straße, Jülich, Germany.
Chem Senses. 2020 Oct 9;45(7):609-622. doi: 10.1093/chemse/bjaa041.
Recent anecdotal and scientific reports have provided evidence of a link between COVID-19 and chemosensory impairments, such as anosmia. However, these reports have downplayed or failed to distinguish potential effects on taste, ignored chemesthesis, and generally lacked quantitative measurements. Here, we report the development, implementation, and initial results of a multilingual, international questionnaire to assess self-reported quantity and quality of perception in 3 distinct chemosensory modalities (smell, taste, and chemesthesis) before and during COVID-19. In the first 11 days after questionnaire launch, 4039 participants (2913 women, 1118 men, and 8 others, aged 19-79) reported a COVID-19 diagnosis either via laboratory tests or clinical assessment. Importantly, smell, taste, and chemesthetic function were each significantly reduced compared to their status before the disease. Difference scores (maximum possible change ±100) revealed a mean reduction of smell (-79.7 ± 28.7, mean ± standard deviation), taste (-69.0 ± 32.6), and chemesthetic (-37.3 ± 36.2) function during COVID-19. Qualitative changes in olfactory ability (parosmia and phantosmia) were relatively rare and correlated with smell loss. Importantly, perceived nasal obstruction did not account for smell loss. Furthermore, chemosensory impairments were similar between participants in the laboratory test and clinical assessment groups. These results show that COVID-19-associated chemosensory impairment is not limited to smell but also affects taste and chemesthesis. The multimodal impact of COVID-19 and the lack of perceived nasal obstruction suggest that severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus strain 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection may disrupt sensory-neural mechanisms.
最近的一些轶事和科学报道提供了证据，表明 COVID-19 与嗅觉等化学感觉障碍之间存在关联。然而，这些报道低估或未能区分对味觉的潜在影响，忽略了化学感觉，并且通常缺乏定量测量。在这里，我们报告了一种多语言、国际化问卷的开发、实施和初步结果，该问卷用于评估 3 种不同化学感觉模式（嗅觉、味觉和化学感觉）在 COVID-19 之前和期间自我报告的感知数量和质量。在问卷发布后的头 11 天内，有 4039 名参与者（2913 名女性、1118 名男性和 8 名其他性别，年龄在 19-79 岁之间）通过实验室测试或临床评估报告了 COVID-19 诊断。重要的是，与疾病前相比，嗅觉、味觉和化学感觉功能均显著降低。差异分数（最大可能变化±100）显示，COVID-19 期间嗅觉（-79.7±28.7，平均值±标准差）、味觉（-69.0±32.6）和化学感觉（-37.3±36.2）功能平均降低。嗅觉能力的定性变化（嗅觉倒错和幻嗅）相对较少，与嗅觉丧失相关。重要的是，感知到的鼻腔阻塞并不能解释嗅觉丧失。此外，实验室测试和临床评估组的参与者的化学感觉障碍相似。这些结果表明，COVID-19 相关的化学感觉障碍不仅限于嗅觉，还影响味觉和化学感觉。COVID-19 的多模态影响以及感知到的鼻腔阻塞的缺乏表明，严重急性呼吸系统综合征冠状病毒 2 型（SARS-CoV-2）感染可能破坏感觉神经机制。
