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. 2021 Feb 13;41(1):14–23. doi: 10.1007/s11596-021-2312-7

Self-reported Taste and Smell Disorders in Patients with COVID-19: Distinct Features in China

Jia Song 1,#, Yi-ke Deng 1,#, Hai Wang 1,#, Zhi-chao Wang 1, Bo Liao 1, Jin Ma 1, Chao He 1, Li Pan 1, Yang Liu 1, Isam Alobid 2, De-yun Wang 3, Ming Zeng 1,✉, Joaquim Mullol 2,✉, Zheng Liu 1,✉
PMCID: PMC7881907  PMID: 33582900

Abstract

Last December 2019, a cluster of viral pneumonia cases identified as coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) was reported in Wuhan, China. We aimed to explore the frequencies of nasal symptoms in patients with COVID-19, including loss of smell and taste, as well as their presentation as the first symptom of the disease and their association with the severity of COVID-19. In this retrospective study, 1206 laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 patients were included and followed up by telephone one month after discharged from Tongji Hospital, Wuhan. Demographic data, laboratory values, comorbidities, symptoms, and numerical rating scale scores (0–10) of nasal symptoms were extracted from the hospital medical records, and confirmed or reevaluated by the telephone follow-up. From patients (n=1172) completing follow-up, 199 (17%) subjects had severe COVID-19 and 342 (29.2%) reported nasal symptoms. 20.6% COVID-19 patients had loss of taste (median score=6), while 11.4% had loss of smell (median score=5). Loss of taste scores, but not loss of smell scores, were significantly increased in severe vs. non-severe COVID-19 patients. Interleukin (IL)-6 and lactose dehydrogenase (LDH) serum levels were positively correlated with loss of taste scores. About 80% of COVID-19 patients recovered from smell and taste dysfunction in 2 weeks. In this cohort, only 1 out of 10 hospital admitted patients had loss of smell while 1 out of 5 reported loss of taste which was associated to severity of COVID-19. Most patients recovered smell and taste dysfunctions in 2 weeks.

Electronic Supplementary Material

Supplementary material is available for this article at 10.1007/s11596-021-2312-7 and is accessible for authorized users.

Keywords: taste, smell, coronavirus disease 2019, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2

Electronic Supplementary Material

Appendix (325.3KB, pdf)

Acknowledgments

We thank to Cai-lin CHEN, Zhao-qin LIAN, Mengchen WANG, Jing-xian LI, Jing-xin LIU, Qiao XIAO, Si-tao HU, Chong-shu WANG, Yi-bo LIU, Jian-wen RUAN and Xue-li LI for their help with data collecting.

Footnotes

This study was supported by grants from the Natural Science Foundation of Hubei Province of China (No. 2018CFB602), National Key R&D Program of China (No. 2018YFC0116800), and National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos: 81630024, 81920108011, and 81900925).

Conflict of Interest Statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

The authors contributed equally to this work

Contributor Information

Jia Song, Email: songjia-rhinology@outlook.com.

Yi-ke Deng, Email: 1012934143@qq.com.

Hai Wang, Email: 814899096@qq.com.

Ming Zeng, Email: zhengliuent@hotmail.com.

Joaquim Mullol, Email: jmullol@clinic.cat.

Zheng Liu, Email: zmsx77@163.com.

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Appendix (325.3KB, pdf)

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