Department of Otolaryngology, Central Clinical Hospital of the Ministry of the Interior and Administration, 02-507 Warsaw, Poland.
UHE Satellite Campus, University of Humanities and Economics, 01-513 Warsaw, Poland.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021 Sep 28;18(19):10185. doi: 10.3390/ijerph181910185.
Olfactory dysfunction (OD) is a common manifestation of COVID-19 and may be useful for screening. Survey-based olfactory evaluation tends to underestimate the prevalence of OD, while psychophysical olfactory testing during a pandemic has the disadvantage of being time consuming, expensive, and requiring standardized laboratory settings. We aimed to develop a quick, simple, affordable, and reliable test to objectively assess the prevalence and diagnostic accuracy of OD in COVID-19. The olfactory function of 64 COVID-19 inpatients and 34 controls was evaluated using a questionnaire and a simple disposable odor identification test (SDOIT) developed for this study. Four SDOIT models were assessed: 10-SDOIT, 9-SDOIT, 8-SDOIT, and 4-SDOIT, with 10, 9, 8 and 4 samples, respectively. We found a high frequency of self-reported OD in COVID-19 patients, with 32.8% and 42.2% reporting current and recent OD, respectively. Different SDOIT models revealed smell impairment in 54.7-64.1% of COVID-19 patients. The combination of either 10-SDOIT results and self-reported OD, or 8-SDOIT results and self-reported OD, were the best predictors of COVID-19, both with an AUC value of 0.87 (0.85 and 0.86 for the age-matched subjects). OD is a common symptom of COVID-19. A combination of self-reported smell deterioration and OD psychophysically evaluated using SDOIT appears to be a good predictor of COVID-19.
嗅觉功能障碍（OD）是 COVID-19 的常见表现，可用于筛查。基于调查的嗅觉评估往往低估了 OD 的患病率，而大流行期间的心理物理学嗅觉测试则耗时、昂贵且需要标准化的实验室设置。我们旨在开发一种快速、简单、经济实惠且可靠的测试方法，以客观评估 COVID-19 中 OD 的患病率和诊断准确性。使用问卷和专为这项研究开发的简单一次性气味识别测试（SDOIT）评估了 64 名 COVID-19 住院患者和 34 名对照者的嗅觉功能。评估了四种 SDOIT 模型：10-SDOIT、9-SDOIT、8-SDOIT 和 4-SDOIT，分别有 10、9、8 和 4 个样本。我们发现 COVID-19 患者自我报告 OD 的频率很高，分别有 32.8%和 42.2%的患者报告当前和近期 OD。不同的 SDOIT 模型显示 COVID-19 患者的嗅觉障碍发生率为 54.7-64.1%。10-SDOIT 结果和自我报告 OD 的组合，或 8-SDOIT 结果和自我报告 OD 的组合，是 COVID-19 的最佳预测因子，两者的 AUC 值均为 0.87（年龄匹配受试者的 AUC 值分别为 0.85 和 0.86）。OD 是 COVID-19 的常见症状。自我报告的嗅觉恶化和 SDOIT 评估的 OD 相结合，似乎是 COVID-19 的良好预测因子。
