Subjective Smell Assessment as An Office-based Rapid Procedure In COVID-19 Era

Abdel-Aziz, Mosaad; Abdel-Aziz, Nada M.; Abdel-Aziz, Dina M.; Azab, Noha

A recent history of smell disorder may be a potential predictor for COVID-19. The authors used a subjective olfaction score that was demonstrated on a hard paper-bar. The authors examined 480 patients who were attending the outpatient clinic. Ninety-seven patients (20.2%) demonstrated variable degrees of recent smell disorder. For those patients, lab testing including nasopharyngeal swab for real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was performed. Eighty-eight of them (90.7%) have been confirmed to be COVID-19 positive. Although psychophysical testing is more reliable, subjective assessment of smell is a rapid procedure and can be used as an office-based method for patients’ screening in COVID-19 era. Smell disorder could be an alarming sign for COVID-19 even with absent characteristic symptoms.