The purpose of this study was to evaluate the clinical features of mild to moderate coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID19) in a sample of Italian patients and to investigate the occurrence of smell and taste disorders. Infected individuals with suspected (clinical diagnosis) or laboratory confirmed COVID19 infection were recruited. Patients completed a survey based questionnaire with the aim of asses-sing their epidemiological and clinical characteristics, general otorhinolaryngological symptoms, and smell and taste disorders. A total of 294 patients with mild to moderate COVID19 completed the survey (147 females). The most prevalentgeneral symptoms included fever, myalgia, cough, and headache. A total of 70.4%and 59.2% of patients reported smell and taste disorders, respectively. A significantassociation between the two abovementioned disorders was found ( rs: 0.412;P < .001). Smell disorders occurred before the other symptoms in 11.6% of patientsand was not significantly associated with nasal obstruction or rhinorrhea. Interest-ingly, our statistical analysis did not show any significant difference, either forgeneral symptoms or otorhinolaryngological features, between the clinical diagnosisgroup and the laboratoryconfirmed diagnosis (polymerase chain reaction) group.The structural equation model confirmed significant standardized paths (P < .05)between general symptoms, comorbidities, and general otorhinolaryngologicalcomplaints in the absence of a significant correlation between these elements andsmell and taste alterations. The prevalence of smell and taste disorders in mildtomoderate Italian COVID19 patients is significant both in suspected and laboratoryconfirmed cases and reveals a strong correlation between these clinical signs regardless of the presence of general or otorhinolaryngological symptoms, such as nasal obstruction or rhinorrhe

A structural equation model to examine the clinical features of mild to moderate COVID19: A multicenter Italian study

Calogero Grillo;Ignazio La Mantia
Membro del Collaboration Group
;
2020-01-01

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the clinical features of mild to moderate coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID19) in a sample of Italian patients and to investigate the occurrence of smell and taste disorders. Infected individuals with suspected (clinical diagnosis) or laboratory confirmed COVID19 infection were recruited. Patients completed a survey based questionnaire with the aim of asses-sing their epidemiological and clinical characteristics, general otorhinolaryngological symptoms, and smell and taste disorders. A total of 294 patients with mild to moderate COVID19 completed the survey (147 females). The most prevalentgeneral symptoms included fever, myalgia, cough, and headache. A total of 70.4%and 59.2% of patients reported smell and taste disorders, respectively. A significantassociation between the two abovementioned disorders was found ( rs: 0.412;P < .001). Smell disorders occurred before the other symptoms in 11.6% of patientsand was not significantly associated with nasal obstruction or rhinorrhea. Interest-ingly, our statistical analysis did not show any significant difference, either forgeneral symptoms or otorhinolaryngological features, between the clinical diagnosisgroup and the laboratoryconfirmed diagnosis (polymerase chain reaction) group.The structural equation model confirmed significant standardized paths (P < .05)between general symptoms, comorbidities, and general otorhinolaryngologicalcomplaints in the absence of a significant correlation between these elements andsmell and taste alterations. The prevalence of smell and taste disorders in mildtomoderate Italian COVID19 patients is significant both in suspected and laboratoryconfirmed cases and reveals a strong correlation between these clinical signs regardless of the presence of general or otorhinolaryngological symptoms, such as nasal obstruction or rhinorrhe
2020
anosmia, coronavirus, COVID19, ENT, SARSCoV2, smell and taste, structural equation model
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11769/490008
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