4.5 Article

Prevalence of olfactory dysfunction in D614G, alpha, delta and omicron waves: a psychophysical case-control study

Journal

RHINOLOGY
Volume 61, Issue 1, Pages 32-38

Publisher

INT RHINOLOGIC SOC
DOI: 10.4193/Rhin22.294

Keywords

anosmia; ageusia; COVID-19; olfactory function; olfactory dysfunction; SARS-CoV-2; coronavirus; smell; taste; taste dysfunction; Omicron variant; variant of concern; Alpha variant; Delta variant; D614G; Maxillofacial surgery

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This study aimed to compare the prevalence of olfactory dysfunction (OD) at different stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. The results showed that OD was less prevalent during the Omicron wave compared to the D614G, Alpha, and Delta waves, but still significantly higher than the control group.
Background: The purpose of this study was to compare the prevalence of olfactory dysfunction (OD) at different stages of the COVID-19 pandemic by evaluating subjects diagnosed with SARS-CoV-2 infection during the Omicron wave with psychophysical tests and comparing the results with those obtained from patients infected during the D614G, Alpha and Delta waves and with those of a control group.Methodology: The study included adult patients diagnosed with SARS-CoV-2 infection. Depending on the time of diagnosis, the subjects were divided into four study groups: D614G; Alpha, Delta and Omicron variant groups. A group of uninfected individuals was used as control. All subjects underwent psychophysical evaluation of the olfactory function with the Connecticut Chemo-sensory Clinical Research Center olfactory test (D614G and Alpha groups) or the extended version of the Sniffin'Sticks test (Delta, Omicron and control groups).Results: 372 cases (134 D614G group, 118 Alpha group, 32 in Delta group and 88 Omicron group) were recruited and evaluated within 10 days of infection, alongside 80 controls. Patients self-reported olfactory loss in 72.4% of cases in the D614G group, in 75.4% of cases in the Alpha group, in 65.6% of cases in the Delta group and in 18.1% in the Omicron group. Psychophysical evalu-ation revealed a prevalence of OD: 80.6%, 83.0%, 65.6% and 36.3% in the D614G, Alpha, Delta and Omicron group respectively. The differences between the D614G, Alpha and Delta groups were not statistically significant. The Omicron group demonstrated a significantly lower prevalence of OD than the other variants but still significantly higher than the controls.Conclusions: During the Omicron wave OD was less prevalent than during the D614G, Alpha and Delta periods. One-third of pa-tients have reduced olfactory function on psychophysical evaluation during the Omicron wave. Our results should be considered with caution as the VOC has not been determined with certainty.

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