ArticleWorld journal of otorhinolaryngology - head and neck surgery2021
Objective screening for olfactory and gustatory dysfunction during the COVID-19 pandemic: a prospective study in healthcare workers using self-administered testing.
Article in World journal of otorhinolaryngology - head and neck surgery, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 22 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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The trial behind it
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Who cites it
22 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 34 citations in OpenAlex.
- Taste loss as a distinct symptom of COVID-19: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Chemical senses · 2023Pooled it
- Self-Administered Taste Testing Without Water: Normative Data for the 53-Item Waterless Empirical Taste Test (WETT).International forum of allergy & rhinology · 2025Article
- Long-Term Taste and Smell Outcomes After COVID-19.JAMA network open · 2024Article
- Olfactory and cognitive decrements in 1991 Gulf War veterans with gulf war illness/chronic multisymptom illness.Environmental health : a global access science source · 2024Article
- Evaluation of taste score and fungiform papillae quantification using digital image analysis in COVID-19 patients with smell and taste dysfunction.Dental research journal · 2024Article
- Article
- Physiology of the tongue with emphasis on taste transduction.Physiological reviews · 2023Review
- Chemosensory Ability and Sensitivity in Health and Disease: Epigenetic Regulation and COVID-19.International journal of molecular sciences · 2023Review
- Covid-19 affects taste independently of smell: results from a combined chemosensory home test and online survey from a global cohort (N=10,953).medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2023Article
- A quick test to objectify smell and taste dysfunction at home: a proof of concept for the validation of the chemosensory perception test.Chemical senses · 2023Article
- Reply: taste loss as a distinct symptom of COVID-19: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Chemical senses · 2023Article
- Eating Habits and Body Weight Changes Induced by Variation in Smell and Taste in Patients with Previous SARS-CoV-2 Infection.Nutrients · 2022Review
- Chemosensory Dysfunction in Long-Term COVID-19 Assessed by Self-Reported and Direct Psychophysical Methods.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- Olfactory dysfunction in COVID-19: pathology and long-term implications for brain health.Trends in molecular medicine · 2022Review
- Changes in smell and taste perception related to COVID-19 infection: a case-control study.Scientific reports · 2022Article
- The COVOSMIA-19 trial: Preliminary application of the Singapore smell and taste test to objectively measure smell and taste function with COVID-19.Food quality and preference · 2022Article
- The taste of the pandemic-contemporary review on the current state of research on gustation in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).International forum of allergy & rhinology · 2022Review
- Performance of formal smell testing and symptom screening for identifying SARS-CoV-2 infection.PloS one · 2022Article
- Exploring the Clinical Utility of Gustatory Dysfunction (GD) as a Triage Symptom Prior to Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) in the Diagnosis of COVID-19: A Meta-Analysis and Systematic Review.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Review
- Taste loss as a distinct symptom of COVID-19: A systematic review and meta-analysis.medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundSmell and taste loss are highly prevalent symptoms in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), although few studies have employed objective measures to quantify these symptoms, especially dysgeusia. Reports of unrecognized anosmia in COVID-19 patients suggests that self-reported measures are insufficient for capturing patients with chemosensory dysfunction.
objectivesThe purpose of this study was to quantify the impact of recent COVID-19 infection on chemosensory function and demonstrate the use of at-home objective smell and taste testing in an at-risk population of healthcare workers.
methodsTwo hundred and fifty healthcare workers were screened for possible loss of smell and taste using online surveys. Self-administered smell and taste tests were mailed to respondents meeting criteria for elevated risk of infection, and one-month follow-up surveys were completed.
resultsAmong subjects with prior SARS-CoV-2 infection, 73% reported symptoms of olfactory and/or gustatory dysfunction. Self-reported smell and taste loss were both strong predictors of COVID-19 positivity. Subjects with evidence of recent SARS-CoV-2 infection (<45 days) had significantly lower olfactory scores but equivalent gustatory scores compared to other subjects. There was a time-dependent increase in smell scores but not in taste scores among subjects with prior infection and chemosensory symptoms. The overall infection rate was 4.4%, with 2.5% reported by PCR swab.
conclusionHealthcare workers with recent SARS-CoV-2 infection had reduced olfaction and normal gustation on self-administered objective testing compared to those without infection. Rates of infection and chemosensory symptoms in our cohort of healthcare workers reflect those of the general public.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.