TY - JOUR T1 - Smell and Taste Dysfunction in COVID-19 Is Associated With Younger Age in Ambulatory Settings: A Multicenter Cross-Sectional Study. AU - Izquierdo-Domínguez,A, AU - Rojas-Lechuga,M J, AU - Chiesa-Estomba,C, AU - Calvo-Henríquez,C, AU - Ninchritz-Becerra,E, AU - Soriano-Reixach,M, AU - Poletti-Serafini,D, AU - Villarreal,I M, AU - Maza-Solano,J M, AU - Moreno-Luna,R, AU - Villarroel,P P, AU - Mateos-Serrano,B, AU - Agudelo,D, AU - Valcarcel,F, AU - Del Cuvillo,A, AU - Santamaría,A, AU - Mariño-Sánchez,F, AU - Aguilar,J, AU - Vergés,P, AU - Inciarte,A, AU - Soriano,A, AU - Mullol,J, AU - Alobid,I, Y1 - 2020/06/17/ PY - 2020/6/20/pubmed PY - 2020/10/21/medline PY - 2020/6/20/entrez KW - COVID-19 KW - Hospital admission KW - Loss of smell KW - Loss of taste KW - SARS-CoV-2 SP - 346 EP - 357 JF - Journal of investigational allergology & clinical immunology JO - J Investig Allergol Clin Immunol VL - 30 IS - 5 N2 - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Since the initial anecdotal reports of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) from China, a growing number of studies have reported on smell and/or taste dysfunction (STD). Objective: The aim of our study was to investigate the frequency and severity of STD in COVID-19 patients and to evaluate the association with demographic characteristics, hospital admission, symptoms, comorbidities, and blood biomarkers. METHODS: We performed a multicenter cross-sectional study on patients who were positive for SARS-CoV-2 (n=846) and controls (n=143) from 15 Spanish hospitals. Data on STD were collected prospectively using an in-person survey. The severity of STD was categorized using a visual analog scale. We analyzed time to onset, recovery rate, time to recovery, hospital admission, pneumonia, comorbidities, smoking, and symptoms. RESULTS: STD was at least 2-fold more common in COVID-19-positive patients than in controls. COVID-19-positive hospitalized patients were older, with a lower frequency of STD, and recovered earlier than outpatients. Analysis stratified by severity of STD showed that more than half of COVID-19 patients presented severe loss of smell (53.7%) or taste (52.2%); both senses were impaired in >90%. In the multivariate analysis, older age (>60 years), being hospitalized, and increased C-reactive protein were associated with a better sense of smell and/or taste. COVID-19-positive patients reported improvement in smell (45.6%) and taste (46.1%) at the time of the survey; in 90.6% this was within 2 weeks of infection. CONCLUSION: STD is a common symptom in COVID-19 and presents mainly in young and nonhospitalized patients. More studies are needed to evaluate follow-up of chemosensory impairment. SN - 1018-9068 UR - https://www.unboundmedicine.com/medline/citation/32554337/Smell_and_Taste_Dysfunction_in_COVID_19_Is_Associated_With_Younger_Age_in_Ambulatory_Settings:_A_Multicenter_Cross_Sectional_Study_ DB - PRIME DP - Unbound Medicine ER -