EVALUATION OF PATIENTS WITH LONG COVID OLFACTORY DYSFUNCTION BY OLFACTORY TRAINING
1İzmir Katip Çelebi Üniversitesi, Atatürk Eğitim ve Araştırma Hastanesi, Kulak Burun Boğaz, İzmir, Türkiye2İzmir Katip Çelebi Üniversitesi, Atatürk Eğitim ve Araştırma Hastanesi, Enfeksiyon Hastalıkları, İzmir, Türkiye
3Acıbadem Hastanesi, Kulak Burun Boğaz Kliniği, Kulak Burun Boğaz, Eskişehir, Türkiye Objective: Dysfunction of smell and taste are common symptoms in Long-COVID. In this study, we followed patients with smell and taste disorders as a long-COVID symptom and aimed to investigate the effectiveness of olfactory training.
Methods: Patients with olfactory disorder lasting longer than 1 month after the COVID 19 infection were included in the study. Patients reported their sense of smell and taste on a visual analog scale (VAS) from 0 to 10. Olfactory training(OT) including essential oils of rose, eucalyptus, lemon and clove was recommended to the patients. After 3 months, they were called for control and their compliance with OT was questioned and their loss of smell and taste was questioned by VAS.
Results: 33 patients, 63.6% (n= 21) female and 36.4% (n=12) male, were included in the study. 10 (30.3%) patients did not perform any OT, 13 (39.4%) patients applied it for less than 8 weeks and 10 (30.3%) patients for 8 weeks or more. The olfactory VAS scores (p= 0.524 ,p=0.832) and taste VAS scores were similar (p= 0.630 , p=0.576) in the groups.
In the first month, 26 (78.8%) patients reported anosmia, 3 (9.1%) hyposmia, and 4 (12.1%) parosmia; At the end of the third month, 2 (6.1%) patients reported anosmia, 8 (24.2%) hyposmia, 12 (36.4%) parosmia, and 11 (33.3%) patients recovered.
Conclusion: In our study, we did not observe a significant increase in olfactory function in patients who applied OT. However, larger studies analyzing olfactory and taste disorders in COVID-19 patients are needed.
Keywords : Olfactory training, Long Covid, Parosmia, Anosmia, Taste Disorder