Olfactory-related Quality of Life Adjustments in Smell Loss during the Coronavirus-19 Pandemic

Publikation: Beitrag in FachzeitschriftForschungsartikelBeigetragenBegutachtung

Beitragende

  • David T. Liu - , Medizinische Universität Wien (Autor:in)
  • Bernhard Prem - , Medizinische Universität Wien (Autor:in)
  • Gerold Besser - , Medizinische Universität Wien (Autor:in)
  • Bertold Renner - , Institut für Klinische Pharmakologie, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (Autor:in)
  • Christian A. Mueller - , Medizinische Universität Wien (Autor:in)

Abstract

Background: Previous studies provided the first evidence that the importance of olfaction decreases with the duration of olfactory dysfunction (OD). Objective: To evaluate differences in olfactory-related quality of life (QoL) between patients with new-onset and persistent smell loss (>4 weeks) during the coronavirus-19 (COVID-19) pandemic and patients with persistent postinfectious OD (PIOD) that were recruited before the pandemic. Methods: This was a retrospective study that included 149 patients with self-reported OD. The olfactory-related QoL was measured using the questionnaire of OD (QOD). The QOD measures the degree to which patients (i) adjust and cope with smell loss (QOD-positive statement [QOD-PS]), (ii) suffer from distorted odor perceptions (QOD-parosmia [QOD-PAR]), and (iii) suffer from smell loss in general (QOD-negative statement [QOD-NS]). Self-perceived chemosensory function, demographics, olfactory function, and duration of smell loss were evaluated. Analyses of variance were used to depict differences in QoL-outcomes between different OD groups. Results: All patients included during the COVID-19 pandemic reported an extensive loss of chemosensory functions of smell, taste, and flavor perception. Psychophysical retronasal screening testing showed olfactory impairments in more than half of these patients. One-way analysis of variance and posthoc tests revealed that the QOD-NS was significantly higher in the new-onset OD group than the PIOD group. At the same time, the QOD-PS score was significantly higher in the PIOD and the persistent COVID-19 OD group than in the new-onset OD group. Conclusion: We showed that patients with persistent OD experienced better olfactory-related adjustment and lower QoL-impairment scores than those with recent-onset smell loss, suggesting that the olfactory-related QoL might change as a function of time after symptom onset.

Details

OriginalspracheEnglisch
Seiten (von - bis)253-260
Seitenumfang8
FachzeitschriftAmerican Journal of Rhinology and Allergy
Jahrgang36
Ausgabenummer2
PublikationsstatusVeröffentlicht - März 2022
Peer-Review-StatusJa

Externe IDs

PubMed 34704454
ORCID /0000-0003-0845-6793/work/139025212

Schlagworte

Schlagwörter

  • anosmia, chemesthesis, COVID-19, flavor, olfactory dysfunction, orthonasal, parosmia, QOD, quality of life, retronasal, smell, smell loss, taste