Olfactory dysfunction in patients after recovering from COVID-19

Smell and taste disorders occur in COVID-19 with a high prevalence, but little is known about the duration of the symptoms. In particular, studies using validated olfactory tests are very rare to date.

The aim of this study was to determine the olfactory function of COVID-19 recoveries by a detailed olfactory test.

91 patients with PCR-confirmed, past COVID-19 disease were included. Olfactory history was taken using a questionnaire. Olfactory function was evaluated with the sniffin' sticks test, tasting function with taste sprays.

80 patients had experienced sudden olfactory loss during the course of disease and at the time of testing, 33 patients subjectively still had an impaired olfactory sense. Around 8 weeks had passed since the onset of symptoms. 45.1% of the tested individuals were still hyposmic according to the olfactory test while 53.8% showed an olfactory performance within the normal range. Patients' self-assessment correlated poorly with the measured olfactory performance.

Half of the patients with an olfactory loss as a symptom of COVID-19 still have olfactory impairments after two months, although not all of these patients subjectively notice a restriction. Long-term measurements must confirm whether all affected patients will make full recovery.