Trial reportAmerican journal of otolaryngology
Effect of nasal corticosteroid in the treatment of anosmia due to COVID-19: A randomised double-blind placebo-controlled study.
Trial report in American journal of otolaryngology. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT04569825 (Effect of Nasal Steroid in the Treatment of Anosmia Due to COVID-19 Disease), which is not on this map. Cited by 36 papers, 11 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Effect of Nasal Steroid in the Treatment of Anosmia Due to COVID-19 Disease
Who cites it
36 citing papers in PubMed, 11 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 57 citations in OpenAlex.
- Effect of glucocorticoids on smell sensation in patients with non-traumatic olfactory disorders: a systematic review and meta-analysis.European journal of clinical pharmacology · 2026Pooled it
- Therapeutic strategies for olfactory impairment in patients with chronic kidney disease: a systematic review.BMC nephrology · 2025Pooled it
- Drug treatments for mild or moderate covid-19: systematic review and network meta-analysis.BMJ (Clinical research ed.) · 2025Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Inhaled corticosteroids' effect on COVID-19 patients: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.Canadian journal of respiratory therapy : CJRT = Revue canadienne de la therapie respiratoire : RCTR · 2023Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Interventions for the treatment of persistent post-COVID-19 olfactory dysfunction.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2022Pooled it
- Interventions for the prevention of persistent post-COVID-19 olfactory dysfunction.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2022Pooled it
- Prognosis and persistence of smell and taste dysfunction in patients with covid-19: meta-analysis with parametric cure modelling of recovery curves.BMJ (Clinical research ed.) · 2022Pooled it
- Efficacy of topical steroids for the treatment of olfactory disorders caused by COVID-19: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Clinical otolaryngology : official journal of ENT-UK ; official journal of Netherlands Society for Oto-Rhino-Laryngology & Cervico-Facial Surgery · 2022Pooled it
- Interventions for the prevention of persistent post-COVID-19 olfactory dysfunction.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2021Pooled it
- Prednisolone does not improve olfactory function after COVID-19: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.BMC medicine · 2022Trial
- Intranasal Corticosteroid Treatment on Recovery of Long-Term Olfactory Dysfunction Due to COVID-19.The Laryngoscope · 2022Trial
- Mometasone furoate nasal spray in the treatment of patients with COVID-19 olfactory dysfunction: A randomized, double blind clinical trial.International immunopharmacology · 2021Trial
- Review
- SARS-CoV-2-induced sensory perturbations: A narrative review of clinical phenotypes, molecular pathologies, and possible interventions.Brain, behavior, & immunity - health · 2025Review
- Treatments for Olfactory Dysfunction in COVID-19: A Systematic Review.International archives of otorhinolaryngology · 2024Review
- Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids as Potential Treatments for COVID-19-Induced Anosmia.Biomedicines · 2024Review
- The Effect of Corticosteroids on Post-Covid-19 Smell Loss: A Meta-Analysis.Iranian journal of otorhinolaryngology · 2023Article
- A Pilot Study of Short-Course Oral Vitamin A and Aerosolised Diffuser Olfactory Training for the Treatment of Smell Loss in Long COVID.Brain sciences · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesAnosmia is a common debilitating symptom of the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Currently, there is no satisfactory treatment of anosmia. Therefore, this study was conducted to evaluate the therapeutic effect of nasal betamethasone drops in the recovery of olfaction in COVID-19-associated anosmia.
methodsThe study was designed as a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial. In total, 276 PCR-confirmed COVID-19 patients who were presented to the outpatient clinic with anosmia were enrolled in the study. In the betamethasone group, 138 participants received nasal drops of betamethasone 3 times daily until recovery for a maximum of one month. Similar dose of 9% NaCl drops was administered to 138 participants in the placebo group.
resultsThe median age of participants was 29 years (IQR 23-37). Among them, 198 (71.7%) were females. Ageusia was co-presented with anosmia in 234 (84.8%) of participants. In this study, 83% of participants had recovered from anosmia within 30 days, with a median recovery time of 13 days (IQR 8-18). Compared to placebo, nasal application of betamethasone drops has no significant effect on the recovery time of anosmia (hazard ratio 0.88; 95% CI 0.68-1.14; P = 0.31).
conclusionThe use of nasal betamethasone to facilitate the recovery time of acute anosmia is not advised. In addition, age, smoking status, the duration of anosmia at presentation, and the co-presentation of ageusia with anosmia are important determinant covariates for the recovery time of anosmia. Further clinical trials, which take these covariates into account, will need to be undertaken. The trail has been registered at ClinicalTrails.gov, NCT04569825.
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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.