Smell and Taste Impairment in COVID-19 Positive Pediatric Patients: A Prospective Cohort on Different Stages of The Disease/COVID-19 Pozitif Pediyatrik Hastalarda Koku ve Tat Bozuklugu: Hastaligin Farkli Evrelerinde Prospektif Bir Kohort

• Published in: Bagcilar Medical Bulletin 2022-09, Vol.7 (3), p.267
• Main Authors: Yazici, Zahide Mine, Saglam, Neslihan, Akcay, Nihal, Menentoglu, Bengisu, Hatioglu, Nevin, Sevketoglu, Esra, Sayin, Ibrahim
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Children; Coronaviruses; Health aspects; Hospital patients; Pediatrics
• ISSN: 2547-9431; 2547-9431
• DOI: 10.4274/BMB.galenos.2022.2022-06-056

Objective: To evaluate the smell and taste impairment in Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pediatric patients according to the disease severity. Method: Ninety polymerase chain reaction test-confirmed COVID-19 patients were enrolled from January 2021 to July 2021. Patients were categorized into three main groups according to the stage of disease (stage 1: Outpatients, stage 2: Inpatients, stage 3: Intensive care unit patients). There were 30 pediatric patients in each group. Subjects were evaluated with a questionnaire. Visual analog scale was used to evaluate smell and taste impairment patients. Results: The impairment of smell and taste were evaluated separately, and the rates were found to be 31.1% and 35.6%, respectively. The impairment of smell showed a statistically significant difference between the groups (p=0.002). The rate of smell impairment in the outpatients was found to be significantly higher than in the patients treated in the intensive care unit. The taste impairment did not show a statistically significant difference between the groups (p=0.109; p>0.01). Persistence of smell and taste impairment was found in 5.5% of the patients. Conclusion: The rate of smell impairment in the outpatients was found to be significantly higher than in the cases treated in the intensive care unit. Keywords: COVID-19, olfactory impairment, pediatrics, smell, taste Amac: Koronavirus hastaligi-2019 (COVID-19) pediyatrik hastalarda koku ve tat bozuklugunu hastaligin ciddiyetine gore degerlendirmektir. Yontem: Ocak 2021'den Temmuz 2021'e kadar 90 polimeraz zincir reaksiyonu testi dogrulanmis COVID-19 hastasi kaydedildi. Hastalar, hastaligin evresine gore uc ana gruba ayrildi (evre 1: Ayakta tedavi olan hastalar, evre 2: Yatan hastalar, evre 3: Yogun bakim hastalari). Her grupta 30 cocuk hasta vardi. Denekler bir anket ile degerlendirildi. Koku ve tat bozuklugu olan hastalari degerlendirmek icin gorsel analog skalasi kullanildi. Bulgular: Koku ve tat bozuklugu ayri ayri degerlendirildi ve sirasiyla %26,7 ve %27,8 olarak bulundu. Koku alma bozuklugu gruplar arasinda istatistiksel olarak anlamli farklilik gosterdi (p=0,002). Ayakta tedavi goren hastalarda koku bozuklugu orani yogun bakimda tedavi edilen hastalara gore anlamli derecede yuksek bulundu. Tat bozuklugu gruplar arasinda istatistiksel olarak anlamli bir fark gostermedi (p=0,109; p>0,01). Hastalarin %5,5'inde koku ve tat bozuklugunun kaliciligi oldugu goruldu. Sonuc: Ayaktan tedavi goren hastalarda koku b