Olfactory and Oral Manifestations of COVID-19: Sex-Related Symptoms-A Potential Pathway to Early Diagnosis.

Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg

Department of Oral Rehabilitation, The Maurice and Gabriela Goldschleger School of Dental Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel.

Published: October 2020

Objective: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic poses a threat to global health. Early diagnosis is an essential key to limit the outbreak of the virus.

Study Design: Case series, study conducted between March 25, 2020, and April 15, 2020.

Setting: Ambulatory, nonhospitalized patients who were quarantined in a designated hotel for COVID-19 patients and were recruited by an advertisement at the hotel.

Subjects And Methods: In total, 140 patients participated in a web-based questionnaire assessing initial symptoms of common viral diseases, olfactory and taste functions, xerostomia, and orofacial pain.

Results: A total of 58 men and 70 women participated. Initial symptoms were cough (59.4%), weakness (47.7%), myalgia (46.9%), fever (42.2%), headache (40.6%), impaired sense of smell (38.3%), impaired sense of taste (32.8%), sore throat (26.6%), runny nose (26.6%), and nasal congestion (22.7%). All symptoms were more frequent among women; however, only runny nose was statistically significant ( = .018). The most common combination of symptoms was cough and weakness (37.5%). A total of 25.8% reported olfactory and taste dysfunctions in the absence of other symptoms. In a comparison between the sexes, cough and runny nose were the most common combination in women ( = .018). A total of 38.3% of patients reported olfactory dysfunction as an initial symptom. Anosmia and facial pain were more common among women ( < .001 and = .01, respectively), and 56% of patients reported xerostomia.

Conclusion: A considerable number of patients presented with olfactory and oral disorders. Interestingly, women presented with a different cluster of symptoms than men, which may suggest a new clinical approach to diagnosing COVID-19 disease.

Download full-text PDF

Source
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7298562PMC
http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0194599820934380DOI Listing

Publication Analysis

Top Keywords

runny nose
12
olfactory oral
8
early diagnosis
8
initial symptoms
8
olfactory taste
8
symptoms cough
8
impaired sense
8
common combination
8
reported olfactory
8
patients reported
8

Similar Publications

Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?

Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!