Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39208140›Full record

ArticlePloS one2024

Determining the sweet detection threshold of COVID-19 patients during infection and recovery periods.

Woroud Alsanei, Esraa Alhussin, Zuhair S Natto, Marwah Afeef, Tugba Aktar

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Article in PloS one, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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4 · The record

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Woroud AlsaneiDepartment of Food and Nutrition, Faculty of Human Sciences and Design, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.ORCID 0000-0003-1341-1987
Esraa AlhussinDepartment of Nursing Education, King Fahad Hospital Jeddah, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Zuhair S NattoDepartment of Dental Public Health, Faculty of Dentistry, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.ORCID 0000-0003-2723-0255
Marwah AfeefDepartment of Research and Studies, Al-Thagher Hospital, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.ORCID 0000-0003-0224-1919
Tugba AktarDepartment of Food Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Alanya Alaaddin Keykubat University, Antalya, Turkey.ORCID 0000-0001-8417-868X

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThe loss of taste and smell is a common symptom of COVID-19, affecting individuals' quality of life and nutritional status. Detecting sweet thresholds during infection and recovery periods can assist in implementing dietary modifications and nutritional strategies for these patients.

objectiveTo investigate the changes and differences in sweet detection thresholds of confirmed COVID-19 patients on Day 1, Day 10, and Day 14 of the infection and recovery periods.

methodsThe demographic factors such as gender, smoking status, BMI, and age group were abstracted on Excel sheet from the medical health records for confirmed COVID-19 patients, who were admitted to King Fahad General Hospital in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, a COVID-19 care facility, from September 2021 to July 2022. Sweet detection thresholds were determined using a pair-wise comparison procedure and sugar solutions with varying concentrations, arranged in ascending order and presented to participants until the lowest detected concentration was noted after three consecutive positive detections, with the median just noticeable difference (JND) value calculated as the population average threshold. Sensory tests were conducted on COVID-19 patients during their infection and recovery periods to evaluate their taste sensation thresholds. The demographic factors of gender, smoking status, BMI, and age group were considered in the analysis.

resultsA total of 37 patients who met the inclusion criteria of the study were enrolled as participants. Significant variances in sweet detection thresholds were observed among the COVID-19 patients, with consistent decreases over the three testing days, indicating increasing sucrose sensitivity. Infected men showed significant returns to sweet detection thresholds on Day 14 compared to women, while infected smokers exhibited greater recoveries than non-smokers. Overweight patients had consistently elevated thresholds and recovery rates that were comparable to those of normal-weight patients by Day 14, while younger patients had lower thresholds than their older counterparts. On Day 14, the thresholds had significantly recovered to a level comparable to that of healthy individuals (approximately 0.23%).

conclusionThese findings suggest that sweet detection thresholds can be used as a marker for assessing the progression and recovery of COVID-19 patients. These findings highlight the importance of recognizing and managing alterations in sweet detection thresholds promptly in COVID-19 patients, as this could positively impact dietary management, nutritional recommendations, and interventions during infection and recovery periods.

Indexed as

COVID-19AdultAgedFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedSARS-CoV-2Saudi ArabiaTasteTaste ThresholdYoung Adult

Identifiers

PMID39208140
PMCPMC11361598

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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.