Volume 26, Issue 123, May 2022

COVID-19 infection related olfactory dysfunction in Saudi Arabia: Community-based study

Waleed A AlHazmi¹, Arwa A Alodheilah², Sarah S Aldharman^3♦, Hamza A Alandijani⁴, Maram M Alhati⁵, Gharam M Alsalmi⁶, Rayan N Alahmadi⁴, Sama M Alnafessah²

¹Assistant Professor and Head of ENT Department, Faculty of Medicine, Qassim University, Qassim, Saudi Arabia.
²College of Medicine, Qassim University, Al Qassim, Saudi Arabia.
³College of Medicine, King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
⁴College of Medicine, Taibah University, Medina, Saudi Arabia
⁵College of Medicine, Sulaiman AlRajhi University, Al Bukairiyah, Saudi Arabia.
⁶College of medicine, Ibn Sina National College for Medical Studies , Jeddah , Saudi Arabia.

^♦Corresponding author
College of Medicine, King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

ABSTRACT

Background: loss of smell is a common symptom of coronavirus infections. Studies have shown that patients following recovery from COVID-19 develop olfactory dysfunction which can persist for an extended period. The purpose of this study is to assess the long-term olfactory dysfunction and its associated factors in individuals with a history of infection COVID-19 infection, as well as the impact of olfactory dysfunction on quality of life in Saudi Arabia. Methods: A questionnaire based cross-sectional study was conducted targeting individuals with a history of COVID-19 infection. Results: A total of 174 participants were included in this study. The percentage of anosmia, hyposmia, parosmia, and phantosmia among the participants was 11.5%, 37.4%, 40.8%, and 33.3% respectively. Parosmia was significantly associated with olfactory training (P-value= 0.019). Olfactory training and age group from 46 to 55 years were showed significant association with phantosmia (ghost odors) (P-value= 0.008, 0.012) respectively. 28.7% of participants reported that their smell sense problems caused them to eat less than previously, and 21.8% reported that they ate out less. 13.8% stated that their smell sense issues have a negative impact on their daily social activities, and according to 5.2%, changes in the smell sense isolated them socially. Conclusion: Long-term olfactory dysfunction was shown to be common among individuals who had a history of COVID-19 infection. The quality of life of those who are affected by olfactory dysfunction is negatively impacted. Further research is recommended to understand the pathophysiology of anosmia, hyposmia, and phantosmia in COVID19 patients.

Keywords: Covid-19, Olfactory dysfunction, Saudi Arabia, Anosmia, smell loss

Medical Science, 2022, 26, ms157e2161

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.54905/disssi/v26i123/ms157e2161

Published: 02 May 2022