Article detail · 2021
Recent Smell Loss Is the Best Predictor of COVID-19 Among Individuals With Recent Respiratory Symptoms
- Year
- 2021
- Type
- article
Data source split
- YÖKSİS YÖKSİS article record
- YÖKSİS venue CHEMICAL SENSES
- Catalog match (ISSN) Chemical Senses
- OpenAlex OpenAlex enrichment (abstract, citations, topics)
Abstract
OpenAlex · English
In a preregistered, cross-sectional study, we investigated whether olfactory loss is a reliable predictor of COVID-19 using a crowdsourced questionnaire in 23 languages to assess symptoms in individuals self-reporting recent respiratory illness. We quantified changes in chemosensory abilities during the course of the respiratory illness using 0-100 visual analog scales (VAS) for participants reporting a positive (C19+; n = 4148) or negative (C19-; n = 546) COVID-19 laboratory test outcome. Logistic regression models identified univariate and multivariate predictors of COVID-19 status and post-COVID-19 olfactory recovery. Both C19+ and C19- groups exhibited smell loss, but it was significantly larger in C19+ participants (mean ± SD, C19+: -82.5 ± 27.2 points; C19-: -59.8 ± 37.7). Smell loss during illness was the best predictor of COVID-19 in both univariate and multivariate models (ROC AUC = 0.72). Additional variables provide negligible model improvement. VAS ratings of smell loss were more predictive than binary chemosensory yes/no-questions or other cardinal symptoms (e.g., fever). Olfactory recovery within 40 days of respiratory symptom onset was reported for ~50% of participants and was best predicted by time since respiratory symptom onset. We find that quantified smell loss is the best predictor of COVID-19 amongst those with symptoms of respiratory illness. To aid clinicians and contact tracers in identifying individuals with a high likelihood of having COVID-19, we propose a novel 0-10 scale to screen for recent olfactory loss, the ODoR-19. We find that numeric ratings ≤2 indicate high odds of symptomatic COVID-19 (4 < OR < 10). Once independently validated, this tool could be deployed when viral lab tests are impractical or unavailable.
Topics
Citations
OpenAlex cited_by_count. Not a WoS or Scopus citation count; those sources have no separate column here.
184 citations
OpenAlex cited_by_count (cache / database)
13 publications in the local catalog that cite this work (OpenAlex reference match; not the full global list).
- Position paper on olfactory dysfunction: 2023 2023
- A follow-up on quantitative and qualitative olfactory dysfunction and other symptoms in patients recovering from COVID-19 smell loss 2022
- A follow-up on quantitative and qualitative olfactory dysfunction and other symptoms in patients recovering from COVID-19 smell loss 2022
- Increasing incidence of parosmia and phantosmia in patients recovering from COVID-19 smell loss 2021
- Covid-19 affects taste independent of taste–smell confusions: results from a combined chemosensory home test and online survey from a large global cohort 2023
- Massively collaborative crowdsourced research on COVID19 and the chemical senses: insights and outcomes 2021
- Covid-19 affects taste independently of smell: results from a combined chemosensory home test and online survey from a global cohort (N=10,953) 2023
- COVID-19 Related Chemosensory Changes in Individuals with Self-Reported Obesity 2021
- Clinical, Prognostic, and Predictive Value of Olfactory Dysfunction for COVID-19: A Prospective Controlled Study 2022
- Clinical, Prognostic, and Predictive Value of Olfactory Dysfunction for COVID-19: A Prospective Controlled Study 2022