Prevalence and Clinical Factors Associated with Self-reported Smell and Taste Disorders in Older Adults Hospitalized with COVID-19.

Abstract

Introduction: Complaints of smell and taste disorders are present in people with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), and they particularly impact older adults in their daily activities and quality of life. Understanding these disorders in this specific population is crucial due to the heightened susceptibility to decreased general health.

Objective: To assess the prevalence and the factors associated with self-reported smell and taste disorders in older adults hospitalized with COVID-19.

Methods: The present documentary and retrospective study used a dataset from the Paraíba State Department of Health based on individual record sheets of hospitalized people with severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), collected through a national form routinely applied in Brazilian hospitals. The complaints of smell and taste disorders were the dependent variables. The independent variables included the clinical outcomes and comorbidities. Data analysis involved descriptive statistics, the Fisher's exact test, and binary logistic regression. The confidence interval was 95%.

Results: The sample comprised 5,014 older adults with a mean age of 74.50 ± 9.35 years, of both biological sexes, and most of them were admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), required non-invasive respiratory support, and experienced death. The prevalence of self-reported smell and taste disorders was 7.8% (95%CI = 7.2-8.8%) and 6.4% (95%CI = 5.6-7.1%) respectively. Smell disorders were less frequent among subjects admitted to the ICU and those who died, while taste disorders correlated with clinical outcomes such as fever, cough, sore throat, diarrhea, and comorbidities such as chronic neurological disease.

Conclusion: Self-reported smell and taste disorders are present in almost 10% of older adults hospitalized with COVID-19, and they are associated with clinical outcomes and commorbities.