背景:嗅觉功能障碍是COVID-19的常见症状。然而,对嗅觉功能的主观感知并不总是与更客观的测量相关。这项研究旨在阐明COVID-19后主观化学感觉功能障碍患者嗅觉和味觉的主观和心理物理测量之间的关系。
方法:招募患有持续性COVID-19相关化学感觉障碍的成年人进行前瞻性研究,在三级医疗机构进行的纵向队列研究。参与者提供了嗅觉和味觉功能的主观测量,并使用Sniffin'Stick嗅觉和Monell味觉测试进行了心理物理评估。
结果:数据分析(n=65)显示嗅觉的主观和心理物理测量之间存在统计学上的显着关联(p<0.001)。主观报告的嗅觉能力每增加1个百分点,有,平均而言,在基线评估时调整年龄时,TDI评分增加0.11(95%CI:0.06,0.16;p<0.001)点,性别,和后续时间。主观报告的嗅觉能力每增加1个百分点,有,平均而言,辨别和识别得分增加0.04(95%CI:0.02,0.06;p<0.001)点和0.05(95%CI:0.03,0.07;p<0.001)点,分别,在基线评估时调整年龄时,性别,和后续时间。
结论:主观嗅觉显示与心理物理测量有轻度到中度的关联,但它未能全面评估持续的COVID-19相关的化学感觉缺陷。主观嗅觉和阈值之间缺乏显着关联限制了主观嗅觉在跟踪恢复中的效用。这些发现支持推动更广泛的心理物理化学感观测试。
BACKGROUND: Olfactory dysfunction is a common symptom of COVID-19. However, subjective perception of olfactory function does not always correlate well with more objective measures. This study seeks to clarify associations between subjective and psychophysical measures of olfaction and
gustation in patients with subjective chemosensory dysfunction following COVID-19.
METHODS: Adults with persistent COVID-19-associated chemosensory disturbance were recruited for a prospective, longitudinal cohort study at a tertiary care institution. Participants provided subjective measures of olfactory and gustatory function and underwent psychophysical assessment using Sniffin\' Sticks olfactory and Monell gustatory tests.
RESULTS: Data analysis (n = 65) showed a statistically significant association between subjective and psychophysical measures of olfaction (p < 0.001). For each one-point increase in subjectively-reported olfactory ability, there is, on average, a 0.11 (95% CI: 0.06, 0.16; p < 0.001) point increase in TDI score while adjusting for age at baseline assessment, sex, and follow-up time. For each one-point increase in subjectively-reported olfactory ability, there is, on average, a 0.04 (95% CI: 0.02, 0.06; p < 0.001) point and 0.05 (95% CI: 0.03, 0.07; p < 0.001) point increase in discrimination and identification scores, respectively, when adjusting for age at baseline assessment, sex, and follow-up time.
CONCLUSIONS: Subjective olfaction shows a mild to moderate association with psychophysical measures, but it fails to comprehensively assess persistent COVID-19-associated chemosensory deficits. The lack of significant association between subjective olfaction and threshold limits the utility of subjective olfaction in tracking recovery. These findings support the push for more widespread psychophysical chemosensory testing.