Association Between Olfactory Dysfunction and Critical Illness and Mortality in COVID-19: A Meta-analysis

The emerging literature regarding the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) suggests that patients with olfactory dysfunction (OD) have a milder disease course with improved clinical symptomatology and outcomes. This study utilized the National Library of Medicine’s PubMed/MEDLINE database to qu...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Otolaryngology-head and neck surgery 2022-02, Vol.166 (2), p.388-392
Main Authors: Goshtasbi, Khodayar, Pang, Jonathan, Lehrich, Brandon M., Vasudev, Milind, Birkenbeuel, Jack L., Abiri, Arash, Kuan, Edward C.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
anosmia
Anosmia - complications
COVID-19 - complications
COVID-19 - immunology
COVID‐19
Hospitalization - statistics & numerical data
Humans
hyposmia
Olfaction Disorders - complications
olfactory dysfunction
Patient Acuity
SARS-CoV-2 - immunology
SARS‐CoV‐2
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Summary:The emerging literature regarding the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) suggests that patients with olfactory dysfunction (OD) have a milder disease course with improved clinical symptomatology and outcomes. This study utilized the National Library of Medicine’s PubMed/MEDLINE database to query for articles describing major outcomes in patients with COVID-19 with or without OD. Of the 1284 examined studies, 26 were included for a total of 11,408 patients (35.9% with OD). When compared with patients with OD, patients without OD were 5.3 times more likely to experience hospitalization (odds ratio, 5.28 [95% CI, 4.64-6.01]; P < .001), 7.0 times more likely to undergo intubation or ventilation (7.01 [5.52-8.90], P < .001), and 7.0 times more likely to die (6.97 [3.54-13.74], P < .001). This association between OD and COVID-19 outcomes may play an important role in patient risk stratification and counseling and early identification of potentially severe cases, and it may encourage future investigations regarding the infectivity and immune response to SARS-CoV-2. Level of evidence 4.
ISSN:0194-5998
1097-6817
DOI:10.1177/01945998211017442