May 10, 2021

Self-Reported Smell and Taste Recovery in Coronavirus Disease 2019 Patients: A One-Year Prospective Study

Category: Article Summary

Topic: Clinical Characteristics and Health Care Setting

Keywords (Tags): clinical characteristics, sequelae

• More than 20% of patients surveyed in Italy who recovered from mild-to-moderate symptomatic COVID-19 reported altered sense of smell or taste one year after initial symptom onset (prevalence = 57/286, 21%). 34 participants reported both smell and taste dysfunction, while 15 reported smell impairment alone and 5 taste disorder alone after 1 year. Of 187 patients who reported COVID-19 associated smell and/or taste dysfunction at study baseline, 130 (70%) reported complete resolution of smell or taste impairment, 41 (22%) reported impairment with a decrease in the severity, and 16 (9%) reported persistence in symptom severity or worsening 1 year after onset.

Boscolo-Rizzo et al. (May 2021). Self-Reported Smell and Taste Recovery in Coronavirus Disease 2019 Patients: A One-Year Prospective Study. European Archives of Oto-Rhino-Laryngology. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00405-021-06839-w