More Than Smell-COVID-19 Is Associated With Severe Impairment of Smell, Taste, and Chemesthesis
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Author
GCCR Group Author
Parma, Valentina
Ohla, Kathrin
Veldhuizen, Maria G.
Niv, Masha Y.
Kelly, Christine E.
Bakke, Alyssa J.
Cooper, Keiland W.
Bouysset, Cédric
Pirastu, Nicola
Dibattista, Michele
Kaur, Rishemjit
Liuzza, Marco Tullio
Pepino, Marta Y.
Schöpf, Veronika
Pereda-Loth, Veronica
Olsson, Shannon B.
Gerkin, Richard C.
Rohlfs Domínguez, Paloma
Albayay, Javier
Farruggia, Michael C.
Bhutani, Surabhi
Fjaeldstad, Alexander W.
Kumar, Ritesh
Menini, Anna
Bensafi, Moustafa
Sandell, Mari
Konstantinidis, Iordanis
Di Pizio, Antonella
Genovese, Federica
Öztürk, Lina
Thomas-Danguin, Thierry
Frasnelli, Johannes
Boesveldt, Sanne
Saatci, Özlem
Saraiva, Luis R.
Lin, Cailu
Golebiowski, Jérôme
Hwang, Liang Dar
Ozdener, Mehmet Hakan
Guàrdia, Maria Dolors
Laudamiel, Christophe
Ritchie, Marina
Havlícek, Jan
Pierron, Denis
Roura, Eugeni
Navarro, Marta
Nolden, Alissa A.
Parker, Jane K.
Schmuker, Michael
Hayes, John E.
Attention
2299/23397
Abstract
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.