BACKGROUND/ OBJECTIVES: Individuals with obesity show alterations in smell and taste abilities. Smell and taste loss are also the most prominent neurological symptoms of COVID-19, yet how chemosensory ability present in individuals with obesity with a positive COVID-19 diagnosis is unknown. SUBJECTS/ METHODS: In this secondary analysis of a cross-sectional global dataset, we compared self-reported chemosensory ability in participants with a respiratory illness reporting a positive (C19+; n = 5156) or a negative (C19-; n = 659) COVID-19 laboratory test outcome, who also self-reported to be obese (C19+; n = 433, C19-; n = 86) or non-obese. RESULTS: Compared to the C19- group, C19+ exhibited a greater decline in smell, taste, and chemesthesis during illness, though these symptoms did not differ between participants with obesity and without obesity. In 68% of participants who reported recovery from respiratory illness symptoms (n=3431 C19+ and n= 539 C19-), post-recovery chemosensory perception did not differ in C19+ and C19- diagnosis, and by self-reported obesity. Finally, we found that all chemosensory and other symptoms combined predicted the C19+ diagnosis in participants with obesity with a moderately good estimate (63% accuracy). However, in C19+ participants with obesity, we observed a greater relative prevalence of non-chemosensory symptoms, including respiratory as respiratory and GI symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that despite a presumed lower sensitivity to chemosensory stimuli, COVID-19 respondents with obesity experience a similar self-reported chemosensory loss as those without obesity, and in both groups self-reported chemosensory symptoms are similarly predictive of COVID-19.
BACKGROUND/ OBJECTIVES: Individuals with obesity show alterations in smell and taste abilities. Smell and taste loss are also the most prominent neurological symptoms of COVID-19, yet how chemosensory ability present in individuals with obesity with a positive COVID-19 diagnosis is unknown. SUBJECTS/ METHODS: In this secondary analysis of a cross-sectional global dataset, we compared self-reported chemosensory ability in participants with a respiratory illness reporting a positive (C19+; n = 5156) or a negative (C19-; n = 659) COVID-19 laboratory test outcome, who also self-reported to be obese (C19+; n = 433, C19-; n = 86) or non-obese. RESULTS: Compared to the C19- group, C19+ exhibited a greater decline in smell, taste, and chemesthesis during illness, though these symptoms did not differ between participants with obesity and without obesity. In 68% of participants who reported recovery from respiratory illness symptoms (n=3431 C19+ and n= 539 C19-), post-recovery chemosensory perception did not differ in C19+ and C19- diagnosis, and by self-reported obesity. Finally, we found that all chemosensory and other symptoms combined predicted the C19+ diagnosis in participants with obesity with a moderately good estimate (63% accuracy). However, in C19+ participants with obesity, we observed a greater relative prevalence of non-chemosensory symptoms, including respiratory as respiratory and GI symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that despite a presumed lower sensitivity to chemosensory stimuli, COVID-19 respondents with obesity experience a similar self-reported chemosensory loss as those without obesity, and in both groups self-reported chemosensory symptoms are similarly predictive of COVID-19.
Authors: Andreas Steenholt Niklassen; Julia Draf; Caroline Huart; Constantin Hintschich; Simone Bocksberger; Eleonora Maria Consiglia Trecca; Ludger Klimek; Serge D Le Bon; Aytug Altundag; Thomas Hummel Journal: Laryngoscope Date: 2021-01-15 Impact factor: 3.325
Authors: Valentina Parma; Kathrin Ohla; Maria G Veldhuizen; Masha Y Niv; Christine E Kelly; Alyssa J Bakke; Keiland W Cooper; Cédric Bouysset; Nicola Pirastu; Michele Dibattista; Rishemjit Kaur; Marco Tullio Liuzza; Marta Y Pepino; Veronika Schöpf; Veronica Pereda-Loth; Shannon B Olsson; Richard C Gerkin; Paloma Rohlfs Domínguez; Javier Albayay; Michael C Farruggia; Surabhi Bhutani; Alexander W Fjaeldstad; Ritesh Kumar; Anna Menini; Moustafa Bensafi; Mari Sandell; Iordanis Konstantinidis; Antonella Di Pizio; Federica Genovese; Lina Öztürk; Thierry Thomas-Danguin; Johannes Frasnelli; Sanne Boesveldt; Özlem Saatci; Luis R Saraiva; Cailu Lin; Jérôme Golebiowski; Liang-Dar Hwang; Mehmet Hakan Ozdener; Maria Dolors Guàrdia; Christophe Laudamiel; Marina Ritchie; Jan Havlícek; Denis Pierron; Eugeni Roura; Marta Navarro; Alissa A Nolden; Juyun Lim; Katherine L Whitcroft; Lauren R Colquitt; Camille Ferdenzi; Evelyn V Brindha; Aytug Altundag; Alberto Macchi; Alexia Nunez-Parra; Zara M Patel; Sébastien Fiorucci; Carl M Philpott; Barry C Smith; Johan N Lundström; Carla Mucignat; Jane K Parker; Mirjam van den Brink; Michael Schmuker; Florian Ph S Fischmeister; Thomas Heinbockel; Vonnie D C Shields; Farhoud Faraji; Enrique Santamaría; William E A Fredborg; Gabriella Morini; Jonas K Olofsson; Maryam Jalessi; Noam Karni; Anna D'Errico; Rafieh Alizadeh; Robert Pellegrino; Pablo Meyer; Caroline Huart; Ben Chen; Graciela M Soler; Mohammed K Alwashahi; Antje Welge-Lüssen; Jessica Freiherr; Jasper H B de Groot; Hadar Klein; Masako Okamoto; Preet Bano Singh; Julien W Hsieh; Danielle R Reed; Thomas Hummel; Steven D Munger; John E Hayes Journal: Chem Senses Date: 2020-10-09 Impact factor: 3.160
Authors: Cristina Menni; Ana M Valdes; Claire J Steves; Tim D Spector; Maxim B Freidin; Carole H Sudre; Long H Nguyen; David A Drew; Sajaysurya Ganesh; Thomas Varsavsky; M Jorge Cardoso; Julia S El-Sayed Moustafa; Alessia Visconti; Pirro Hysi; Ruth C E Bowyer; Massimo Mangino; Mario Falchi; Jonathan Wolf; Sebastien Ourselin; Andrew T Chan Journal: Nat Med Date: 2020-05-11 Impact factor: 53.440
Authors: Richard C Gerkin; Kathrin Ohla; Maria G Veldhuizen; Paule V Joseph; Christine E Kelly; Alyssa J Bakke; Kimberley E Steele; Michael C Farruggia; Robert Pellegrino; Marta Y Pepino; Cédric Bouysset; Graciela M Soler; Veronica Pereda-Loth; Michele Dibattista; Keiland W Cooper; Ilja Croijmans; Antonella Di Pizio; Mehmet Hakan Ozdener; Alexander W Fjaeldstad; Cailu Lin; Mari A Sandell; Preet B Singh; V Evelyn Brindha; Shannon B Olsson; Luis R Saraiva; Gaurav Ahuja; Mohammed K Alwashahi; Surabhi Bhutani; Anna D'Errico; Marco A Fornazieri; Jérôme Golebiowski; Liang Dar Hwang; Lina Öztürk; Eugeni Roura; Sara Spinelli; Katherine L Whitcroft; Farhoud Faraji; Florian Ph S Fischmeister; Thomas Heinbockel; Julien W Hsieh; Caroline Huart; Iordanis Konstantinidis; Anna Menini; Gabriella Morini; Jonas K Olofsson; Carl M Philpott; Denis Pierron; Vonnie D C Shields; Vera V Voznessenskaya; Javier Albayay; Aytug Altundag; Moustafa Bensafi; María Adelaida Bock; Orietta Calcinoni; William Fredborg; Christophe Laudamiel; Juyun Lim; Johan N Lundström; Alberto Macchi; Pablo Meyer; Shima T Moein; Enrique Santamaría; Debarka Sengupta; Paloma Rohlfs Dominguez; Hüseyin Yanik; Thomas Hummel; John E Hayes; Danielle R Reed; Masha Y Niv; Steven D Munger; Valentina Parma Journal: Chem Senses Date: 2021-01-01 Impact factor: 3.160