tetano
Editor, Senior Moderator
Arch Pharm Res
. 2021 Jul 24.
doi: 10.1007/s12272-021-01344-4. Online ahead of print.
Is loss of smell an early predictor of COVID-19 severity: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Sujata Purja[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Hocheol Shin[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Ji-Yun Lee[SUP] 2 [/SUP], EunYoung Kim[SUP] 3 4 [/SUP]
Affiliations
Abstract
Anecdotal evidence suggests that the severity of coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), is likely to be distinguished by variations in loss of smell (LOS). Thus, we conducted a meta-analysis of 45 articles that include a total of 42,120 COVID-19 patients from 17 different countries to demonstrate that severely ill or hospitalized COVID-19 patients have a lesser chance of experiencing LOS than non-severely ill or non-hospitalized COVID-19 patients (odds ratio = 0.527 [95% CI 0.373-0.744; p < 0.001] and 0.283 [95% CI 0.173-0.462; p < 0.001], respectively). We also proposed a possible mechanism underlying the association of COVID-19 severity with anosmia, which may explain why patients without sense of smell develop severe COVID-19. Variations in LOS according to the severity of COVID-19 is a global phenomenon, with few exceptions. Since severely ill patients have a lower rate of anosmia, patients without anosmia should be monitored more closely in the early stages of COVID-19, for early diagnosis of severity of illness. An understanding of how the severity of COVID-19 infection and LOS are associated has profound implications for the clinical management and mitigation strategies for the disease.
Keywords: Anosmia; COVID-19; COVID-19 hospitalization; COVID-19 severity; SARS-CoV-2.
. 2021 Jul 24.
doi: 10.1007/s12272-021-01344-4. Online ahead of print.
Is loss of smell an early predictor of COVID-19 severity: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Sujata Purja[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Hocheol Shin[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Ji-Yun Lee[SUP] 2 [/SUP], EunYoung Kim[SUP] 3 4 [/SUP]
Affiliations
- PMID: 34302637
- DOI: 10.1007/s12272-021-01344-4
Abstract
Anecdotal evidence suggests that the severity of coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), is likely to be distinguished by variations in loss of smell (LOS). Thus, we conducted a meta-analysis of 45 articles that include a total of 42,120 COVID-19 patients from 17 different countries to demonstrate that severely ill or hospitalized COVID-19 patients have a lesser chance of experiencing LOS than non-severely ill or non-hospitalized COVID-19 patients (odds ratio = 0.527 [95% CI 0.373-0.744; p < 0.001] and 0.283 [95% CI 0.173-0.462; p < 0.001], respectively). We also proposed a possible mechanism underlying the association of COVID-19 severity with anosmia, which may explain why patients without sense of smell develop severe COVID-19. Variations in LOS according to the severity of COVID-19 is a global phenomenon, with few exceptions. Since severely ill patients have a lower rate of anosmia, patients without anosmia should be monitored more closely in the early stages of COVID-19, for early diagnosis of severity of illness. An understanding of how the severity of COVID-19 infection and LOS are associated has profound implications for the clinical management and mitigation strategies for the disease.
Keywords: Anosmia; COVID-19; COVID-19 hospitalization; COVID-19 severity; SARS-CoV-2.