Table 2.
Characteristics of Patients With COVID-19 Illness by the Lack of Sense of Taste.
| Characteristics | Ageusia*,N = 242 | No Ageusia*,N = 244 | P-Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Demographics | |||
| Age, years (±SE) | 54·6 (±1.0) | 59 (±1.0) | 0.001 |
| Gender, N (%) women | 130 (54) | 94 (40) | 0.003 |
| Race/ethnicity, N (%) | 0.8 | ||
| White | 24 (10) | 21 (9) | |
| Black | 92 (38) | 95 (41) | |
| Latino | 81 (33) | 78 (33) | |
| Asian | 7 (3) | 3 (1) | |
| Other race, or unknown | 39 (16) | 37 (16) | |
| Reported symptoms | |||
| Anosmia*, N (%) | 148 (61) | 13 (6) | <0.001 |
| Fever*, N (%) | 175 (72) | 119 (51) | <0.001 |
| Body aches*, N (%) | 157 (65) | 83 (35) | <0.001 |
| Cough*, N (%) | 157 (65) | 127 (55) | <0.01 |
| Sore throat*, N (%) | 67 (27) | 41 (18) | <0.01 |
| Belly ache*, N (%) | 53 (22) | 36 (16) | 0.07 |
| Shortness of breath*, N (%) | 76 (32) | 77 (33) | 0.8 |
| Diarrhea*, N (%) | 122 (50) | 72 (31) | <0.001 |
| Fatigue or weakness*, N (%) | 191 (79) | 128 (56) | <0.001 |
| Headache*, N (%) | 41 (17) | 24 (10) | 0.03 |
| BMI▲, kg/m2 (IQR) | 31 (28–38) | 30 (25–35) | 0.3 |
| Number of days from SARS-CoV-2 test to the phone interview (±SE) | 46·7 (±1.1) | 50 (±1·2) | 0.04 |
| Patient past medical history | |||
| History of hypertension▲, N (%) | 110 (45) | 117 (50) | 0.3 |
| History of hypercholesterolemia▲, N (%) | 79 (32) | 85 (36) | 0.4 |
| Laboratory markers at the time of SARS-CoV-2 test | |||
| Eosinophil counts▲, K/μL (±SE) | 0.03 (±0.005) | 0.05 (±0.007) | 0.02 |
| Fibrinogen▲, mg/dL (±SE) | 680 (±15.0) | 629 (±15.0) | 0.02 |
| Lactic dehydrogenase▲, U/L (±SE) | 442 (±16.4) | 399 (±12.0) | 0.04 |
| Outcomes | |||
| Length of emergency department or hospital stay▲, days (IQR) | 5 (3–10) | 5 (3–9) | 0.2 |
| Admission to ICU▲, N (%) | 25 (10) | 25 (11) | 0.8 |
| Endotracheal intubations▲, N (%) | 17 (7) | 14 (6) | 0.7 |
* Patient reported. ▲ Extracted and verified through medical record data extraction and review.p<0.05 are shown in bold and italic format.