The Course of Parosmia Improvement in Patients with COVID-19 in Iran

Smell disorder such as dostorted olfaction (parosmia) is one of the most common symptoms of COVID-19. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the improvement of symptoms of parosmia in patients with COVID-19 in 2020.

This cross-sectional study was conducted in summer and spring of 2020 using a data collection form which was validated with Cronbach's alpha of r=0.826. The study was done in an international health center in Tehran. To report descriptive results, mean, standard deviation, absolute frequency and absolute frequency percentage, and for analysis, independent t-test and chi-square test were used using SPSS software version 16 and the significance level was considered to be 0.05.

In total ,350 patients participated in the study, the prevalence of parosmia in patients was 15.14% and the mean and age deviation of patients was 32.71 ± 10.93 years. There was not a significant relationship between parosmia and gender (p value=0.317), age (p value=0.271), previous history of allergic symptoms (p value=0.083), family history of the disease (p value=0.638), taste disorder (p-value=0.768), and smoking (p-value=0.558). 31 cases (58.49 % of Patients) with parosmia had complete remission within 4-6 weeks.

Due to the high prevalence of olfactory disorders, especially parosmia in patients with COVID-19, parosmia and other olfactory disorders can be used to screen and triage patients with COVID-19, especially moderate and mild patients. Patients with parosmia should be followed for at least 4 to 6 weeks and if they do not recover for up to 12 weeks, they should be referred to ENT specialists for more specific measures.