tetano
Editor, Senior Moderator
Eur Arch Otorhinolaryngol
. 2023 Sep 5.
doi: 10.1007/s00405-023-08163-x. Online ahead of print. Distinct smell and taste disorder phenotype of post-acute COVID-19 sequelae
Verena Rass[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Piotr Tymoszuk[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Sabina Sahanic[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Beatrice Heim[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Dietmar Ausserhofer[SUP] 4 [/SUP], Anna Lindner[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Mario Kofler[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Philipp Mahlknecht[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Anna Boehm[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Katharina Hüfner[SUP] 5 [/SUP], Alex Pizzini[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Thomas Sonnweber[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Katharina Kurz[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Bernhard Pfeifer[SUP] 6 7 [/SUP], Stefan Kiechl[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Marina Peball[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Philipp Kindl[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Lauma Putnina[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Elena Fava[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Atbin Djamshidian[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Andreas Huber[SUP] 6 [/SUP], Christian J Wiedermann[SUP] 4 [/SUP], Barbara Sperner-Unterweger[SUP] 5 [/SUP], Ewald Wöll[SUP] 8 [/SUP], Ronny Beer[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Alois Josef Schiefecker[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Rosa Bellmann-Weiler[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Herbert Bachler[SUP] 9 [/SUP], Ivan Tancevski[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Bettina Pfausler[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Giuliano Piccoliori[SUP] 4 [/SUP], Klaus Seppi[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Günter Weiss[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Judith Löffler-Ragg[SUP] 10 [/SUP], Raimund Helbok[SUP] 11 12 [/SUP]
Affiliations
Purpose: Olfactory dysfunction (OD) commonly accompanies coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). We investigated the kinetics of OD resolution following SARS-CoV-2 infection (wild-type and alpha variant) and its impact on quality of life, physical and mental health.
Methods: OD prevalence was assessed in an ambulatory COVID-19 survey (n = 906, ≥ 90 days follow-up) and an observational cohort of ambulatory and hospitalized individuals (n = 108, 360 days follow-up). Co-occurrence of OD with other symptoms and effects on quality of life, physical and mental health were analyzed by multi-dimensional scaling, association rule mining and semi-supervised clustering.
Results: Both in the ambulatory COVID-19 survey study (72%) and the observational ambulatory and hospitalized cohort (41%) self-reported OD was frequent during acute COVID-19. Recovery from self-reported OD was slow (survey: median 28 days, observational cohort: 90 days). By clustering of the survey data, we identified a predominantly young, female, comorbidity-free group of convalescents with persistent OD and taste disorders (median recovery: 90 days) but low frequency of post-acute fatigue, respiratory or neurocognitive symptoms. This smell and taste disorder cluster was characterized by a high rating of physical performance, mental health, and quality of life as compared with convalescents affected by prolonged fatigue or neurocognitive complaints.
Conclusion: Our results underline the heterogeneity of post-acute COVID-19 sequelae calling for tailored management strategies. The persistent smell and taste disorder phenotype is characterized by good clinical, physical, and mental recovery and may pose a minor challenge for public health.
Study registration: ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT04661462 (survey study), NCT04416100 (observational cohort).
Keywords: Long COVID; Mental health; Olfactory dysfunction; Post-COVID-19 condition; Quality of life; Smell and taste disorder.
. 2023 Sep 5.
doi: 10.1007/s00405-023-08163-x. Online ahead of print. Distinct smell and taste disorder phenotype of post-acute COVID-19 sequelae
Verena Rass[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Piotr Tymoszuk[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Sabina Sahanic[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Beatrice Heim[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Dietmar Ausserhofer[SUP] 4 [/SUP], Anna Lindner[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Mario Kofler[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Philipp Mahlknecht[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Anna Boehm[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Katharina Hüfner[SUP] 5 [/SUP], Alex Pizzini[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Thomas Sonnweber[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Katharina Kurz[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Bernhard Pfeifer[SUP] 6 7 [/SUP], Stefan Kiechl[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Marina Peball[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Philipp Kindl[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Lauma Putnina[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Elena Fava[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Atbin Djamshidian[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Andreas Huber[SUP] 6 [/SUP], Christian J Wiedermann[SUP] 4 [/SUP], Barbara Sperner-Unterweger[SUP] 5 [/SUP], Ewald Wöll[SUP] 8 [/SUP], Ronny Beer[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Alois Josef Schiefecker[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Rosa Bellmann-Weiler[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Herbert Bachler[SUP] 9 [/SUP], Ivan Tancevski[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Bettina Pfausler[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Giuliano Piccoliori[SUP] 4 [/SUP], Klaus Seppi[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Günter Weiss[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Judith Löffler-Ragg[SUP] 10 [/SUP], Raimund Helbok[SUP] 11 12 [/SUP]
Affiliations
- PMID: 37670171
- DOI: 10.1007/s00405-023-08163-x
Purpose: Olfactory dysfunction (OD) commonly accompanies coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). We investigated the kinetics of OD resolution following SARS-CoV-2 infection (wild-type and alpha variant) and its impact on quality of life, physical and mental health.
Methods: OD prevalence was assessed in an ambulatory COVID-19 survey (n = 906, ≥ 90 days follow-up) and an observational cohort of ambulatory and hospitalized individuals (n = 108, 360 days follow-up). Co-occurrence of OD with other symptoms and effects on quality of life, physical and mental health were analyzed by multi-dimensional scaling, association rule mining and semi-supervised clustering.
Results: Both in the ambulatory COVID-19 survey study (72%) and the observational ambulatory and hospitalized cohort (41%) self-reported OD was frequent during acute COVID-19. Recovery from self-reported OD was slow (survey: median 28 days, observational cohort: 90 days). By clustering of the survey data, we identified a predominantly young, female, comorbidity-free group of convalescents with persistent OD and taste disorders (median recovery: 90 days) but low frequency of post-acute fatigue, respiratory or neurocognitive symptoms. This smell and taste disorder cluster was characterized by a high rating of physical performance, mental health, and quality of life as compared with convalescents affected by prolonged fatigue or neurocognitive complaints.
Conclusion: Our results underline the heterogeneity of post-acute COVID-19 sequelae calling for tailored management strategies. The persistent smell and taste disorder phenotype is characterized by good clinical, physical, and mental recovery and may pose a minor challenge for public health.
Study registration: ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT04661462 (survey study), NCT04416100 (observational cohort).
Keywords: Long COVID; Mental health; Olfactory dysfunction; Post-COVID-19 condition; Quality of life; Smell and taste disorder.