Background

The novel Coronavirus Disease-19 (COVID-19) continues to have profound effect on global health. Our aim was to evaluate the prevalence and characterize specific symptoms associated with COVID-19.

Methods

This retrospective study included 326 patients with confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection evaluated at the Emergency Department of the Umberto I Polyclinic Hospital, Rome, Italy between March 6th and April 30th, 2020. In order to assess xerostomia, olfactory and gustatory dysfunctions secondary to COVID-19, a telephone-based a modified survey obtained from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2013–2014 for taste and smell disorders and the Fox Questionnaire for dry mouth were administered to 111 patients (34%) after discharge between June 4th and June 12th.

Results

Taste dysfunction was the most common reported symptom (59.5%; n = 66), followed by xerostomia (45.9%; n = 51) and olfactory dysfunctions (41.4%; n = 46). The most severe symptom was olfactory dysfunction with a median severity score of 8.5 (range: 5–10). Overall 74.5% (n = 38) of patients with xerostomia, 78.8% (n = 52) of patients with gustatory dysfunctions and 71.1% (n = 33) of patients with olfactory dysfunctions reported that all symptoms appeared before COVID-19 diagnosis. Overall, the majority of patients reported one symptom only (45.9%, n = 51), 37 (33.3%) reported the association of two symptoms, and 23 (20.7%) patients reported the association of three symptoms at the same time.

Conclusion

Xerostomia, gustatory and olfactory dysfunctions may present as a prodromal or as the sole manifestation of COVID-19. Awareness is fundamental to identify COVID-19 patients at an early stage of the disease and limit the spread of the virus.

中文翻译：

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COVID-19患者的口腔干燥，味觉和嗅觉功能障碍

背景

新型冠状病毒病-19（COVID-19）继续对全球健康产生深远影响。我们的目的是评估患病率并确定与COVID-19相关的特定症状。

方法

这项回顾性研究包括2020年3月6日至4月30日在意大利罗马的Umberto I综合诊所急诊科评估的326例确诊SARS-CoV-2感染患者。为了评估继发于口腔干燥，嗅觉和味觉功能障碍的患者COVID-19是一项电话修改的调查，从2013-2014年美国国家健康与营养检查（NHANES）中获得，用于味觉和嗅觉障碍，Fox问卷用于口干，在出院后向111例患者进行了调查（占34％） 6月4日和6月12日。

结果

口感障碍是最常见的症状（59.5％；n  = 66），其次是口干症（45.9％；n  = 51）和嗅觉障碍（41.4％；n  = 46）。最严重的症状是嗅觉障碍，严重程度中位数为8.5（范围：5-10）。 口干症患者的总体占74.5％（n = 38）， 味觉功能障碍的患者占78.8％（n = 52）， 嗅觉功能障碍的患者占71.1％（n = 33），所有症状均在COVID-19诊断之前出现。总体而言，大多数患者仅报告一种症状（45.9％，n = 51），其中37（33.3％）位患者报告了两种症状的关联，而23位患者（20.7％）同时报告了三种症状的关联。

结论

口干，味觉和嗅觉功能障碍可能以COVID-19的前驱或单独表现。意识是在疾病早期识别COVID-19患者并限制病毒传播的基础。