Prevalence of olfactory dysfunction in Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19): A meta-analysis of 27,492 patients
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
4-1-2021
Abstract
Objectives/Hypothesis Olfactory dysfunction has been observed as one of the clinical manifestations in COVID-19 patients. We aimed to conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis to estimate the overall pooled prevalence of olfactory dysfunction in COVID-19 patients. Study Design Systematic review and meta-analyses. Methods PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, Embase, and Google Scholar databases were searched to identify studies published between 1 December 2019 and 23 July 2020. We used random-effects model to estimate the pooled prevalence with 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Heterogeneity was assessed using the I-2 statistic and Cochran's Q test. Robustness of the pooled estimates was checked by different subgroup and sensitivity analyses This study is registered with PROSPERO (CRD42020183768). Results We identified 1162 studies, of which 83 studies (n = 27492, 61.4% female) were included in the meta-analysis. Overall, the pooled prevalence of olfactory dysfunction in COVID-19 patients was 47.85% 95% CI: 41.20-54.50]. We observed olfactory dysfunction in 54.40% European, 51.11% North American, 31.39% Asian, and 10.71% Australian COVID-19 patients. Anosmia, hyposmia, and dysosmia were observed in 35.39%, 36.15%, and 2.53% of the patients, respectively. There were discrepancies in the results of studies with objective (higher prevalence) versus subjective (lower prevalence) evaluations. The discrepancy might be due to false-negative reporting observed in self-reported health measures. Conclusions The prevalence of olfactory dysfunction in COVID-19 patients was found to be 47.85% based on high-quality evidence. Due to the subjective measures of most studies pooled in the analysis, further studies with objective measures are advocated to confirm the finding. Level of Evidence 2 Laryngoscope, 2020
Keywords
Coronavirus, COVID-19, Olfactory, Smell, Meta-analysis
Divisions
otorhino
Publication Title
The Laryngoscope
Volume
131
Issue
4
Publisher
Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins
Publisher Location
111 RIVER ST, HOBOKEN 07030-5774, NJ USA