Olfactory dysfunction in COVID-19
Citation: Pang KW, Chee J, Subramaniam S, et al. Frequency and clinical utility of olfactory dysfunction in COVID-19: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Current Allergy and Asthma Reports. 2020;20:76.
Language: Abstract and full text available in EN.
Free to view: Yes.
Funding sources: Nothing noted.
What is this? In this systematic review, the authors searched for articles related to olfactory dysfunction (OD) in COVID-19 to determine if OD was useful in the diagnosis of COVID-19. The authors searched in August 2020 without restrictions on the date or language of publication. They found 19 articles that compared olfactory dysfunction with reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) results for COVID-19.
What was found: Despite heterogeneity between studies, the authors found that olfactory dysfunction was a highly specific symptom of the COVID-19 infection. Among people suspected to have COVID-19, those who reported OD were more likely to test positive on RT-PCR than those without OD.
Implications: The authors stated that patient-reported olfactory dysfunction should be included in screening for suspected COVID-19 infection.
Other considerations: The authors of the review did not discuss their findings in the context of issues relating to health equity.
This summary was written by Joly Ghanawi, checked by Sydney Johnson and finalized by William Summerskill.