• İbrahim Sayin, Kadriye Kart Yaşar, and Zahide Mine Yazici.
• Department of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, Bakırköy Dr. Sadi Konuk Teaching and Research Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey.
• Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2020 Sep 1; 163 (3): 473-479.

ObjectiveTo identify the taste and smell impairment in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)-positive subjects and compare the findings with COVID-19-negative subjects using the American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery (AAO-HNS) Anosmia Reporting Tool.SettingTertiary referral center/COVID-19 pandemic hospital.Study DesignComparative study.Subjects And MethodsAfter power analysis, 128 subjects were divided into 2 groups according to real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) COVID-19 testing results. Subjects were called via telephone, and the AAO-HNS Anosmia Reporting Tool was used to collect responses.ResultsThe mean age of the study group was 38.63 ± 10.08 years. At the time of sampling, rhinorrhea was significantly high in the COVID-19-negative group, whereas those complaints described as "other" were significantly high in the COVID-19-positive group. There was a significant difference in the smell/taste impairment rates of the groups (n = 46% [71.9%] for the COVID-19-positive group vs n = 17 [26.6%] for the COVID-19-negative group, P = .001). For subjects with a smell impairment, anosmia rates did not differ between the groups. The rates of hyposmia and parosmia were significantly high in the COVID-19-positive group. For the subjects with taste impairment, ageusia rates did not differ between groups. The rate of hypogeusia and dysgeusia was significantly high in the COVID-19-positive group. Logistic regression analysis indicates that smell/taste impairment in COVID-19-positive subjects increases the odds ratio by 6.956 (95% CI, 3.16-15.29) times.ConclusionCOVID-19-positive subjects are strongly associated with smell/taste impairment.

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