Taste Perception Changes in COVID-19 Patients During and After Recovery: A Comparative Cross-Sectional Study
Abstract
Morteza Rostam Beigi, Maryam-Sadat Sadrzadeh-Afshar, Humayun Farhat and Ehsan Rezaei
Background: We compared taste changes in patients with coronavirus disease (COVID-19) during and after recovery due to reported taste loss.
Methods: This was a comparative cross-sectional study conducted in 2020 involving 402 COVID-19 patients referred to a healthcare facility. This study aimed to measure perceived taste intensity using filtered paper disks, both during the disease and one month after the disappearance of clinical symptoms. The collected data were analyzed using SPSS 21.
Results: A significant relationship was found between improvements in the perception of saltiness, sweetness, sourness, and bitterness (P<0.001) and sex and employment during and one month after the disappearance of clinical symptoms. However, only the enhancement of perceptions of sour taste was significantly related to education (P=0.044), whereas no significant relationship was observed between saltiness, sweetness, and bitterness (P=0.067). During COVID-19, 69.8% of cases had no perception of the four different tastes, but one month after the disappearance of clinical symp- toms, 89.1% fully perceived saltiness and sweetness, 89.9% perceived sourness, and 92.6% perceived bitterness.
Conclusion: Taste disorders are common in COVID-19 but improve after recovery. Further clinical studies are required to determine the relationship between disease severity and taste function.