Karthikeyan Padmanabhan, Sivanand Nikhil, Vijayan Neelima, Latheef Muhammed Nabeel
Department of ENT, Mahatma Gandhi Medical College and Research Institute, Sri Balaji Vidyapeeth, Pillaiyarkuppam, Pondicherry 607402 India.
Indian J Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2022 Oct;74(Suppl 2):2900-2905. doi: 10.1007/s12070-021-02499-8. Epub 2021 Mar 13.
Anosmia and ageusia are the first and maybe the only symptom in patients affected with COVID-19 especially if the patient is paucisymptomatic. This aim of this study was to determine the demographic details of patients with anosmia, prevalence of anosmia and the time taken for it to resolve in patients who are positive for COVID-19 and took treatment in our hospital. Cross Sectional Study. Patients with real time polymerase chain reaction (RTPCR) positive nasopharyngeal and oropharyngeal swabs, who met the inclusion and exclusion criteria were included in the study. The study group was interviewed through telephonic calls and a questionnaire filled to see the development and regression of their symptoms. Of the study population of 1000, 742 patients had some sort of a smell disturbance. There was a positive correlation between the severity of the disease and history of smoking. The prevalence of smell disturbances among COVID-19 patients in our study was 74.2%. One important finding that we found out was that majority of the smokers had moderate disease. Most of the patients had complete recovery form smell disturbance in the due course of time. The mean time for resolution of smell disturbance was found to be 9.89 days. Anosmia and ageusia can represent the only symptomatology present in patients with COVID-19 and they are completely reversible and hence they can be used as early predictors of infection. Level of Evidence: Level 2.
嗅觉减退和味觉减退是感染新冠病毒患者的首发症状，甚至可能是唯一症状，尤其是症状轻微的患者。本研究的目的是确定我院接受治疗的新冠病毒检测呈阳性且有嗅觉减退症状患者的人口统计学细节、嗅觉减退的患病率以及嗅觉减退症状消失所需的时间。横断面研究。符合纳入和排除标准的实时聚合酶链反应（RTPCR）检测鼻咽和口咽拭子呈阳性的患者纳入本研究。通过电话访谈研究组，并填写问卷以了解其症状的发展和消退情况。在1000名研究对象中，742名患者存在某种嗅觉障碍。疾病严重程度与吸烟史之间存在正相关。在我们的研究中，新冠病毒患者嗅觉障碍的患病率为74.2%。我们发现的一个重要发现是，大多数吸烟者病情为中度。大多数患者在一段时间后嗅觉障碍完全恢复。嗅觉障碍消失的平均时间为9.89天。嗅觉减退和味觉减退可能是新冠病毒患者仅有的症状表现，且完全可逆，因此可作为感染的早期预测指标。证据级别：2级。
