Prevalence of Parosmia among COVID-19 Patients in KSA: A Cross-Sectional Study

Background: Although parosmia is a common problem in the era of the COVID-19 pandemic, few studies assessed the demographic and clinical aspects of this debilitating symptom. We aimed to evaluate the socio-clinical characteristics and outcome of various options of treatment of individuals with parosmia due to COVID-19 infection. Methods: This was an analytical cross-sectional study to spot light on the relationship between osteoarthritis and endocrine diseases. The study was carried out at universities, hospitals and malls in KSA. Data were collected from patients and general population during a period from March to October 2021. Results: The study included 1019 participants from different age groups. The most prevalent age group was 20-30 (n=365, 35.8%). Most of study participants were females (n=715, 70.2%) and the rest were males (n=304, 29.8%). The majority of participants were from Saudi Arabia (n=926, 90.9%) while the rest were non-Saudi participants (n=93, 9.1%). The majority of participants had no comorbidities (n=784, 76.9%). On the other hand, the most prevalent comorbidities were asthma, diabetes, obesity and hypertension. There were 656 participants been infected with COVID-19 (64.4%). Among them, 608 participants suffered from anosmia (92.7%). However, most of them had their sense of smell back (n=481, 79.1%). Participants described also a change in their sense of smell. There were 466 participants reported change in their sense of smell. The change in sense of smell varied among study participants. Strange smells are statistically significant with female gender (P=0.001) and old age (P=0.02). Conclusion: Parosmia due to COVID-19 infection is a common problem with poor results in the short-term treatment and follow-up. The altered quality of life (AQL) was seen in a greater proportion of patients and strongly associated with the presence of dysgeusia, type, and severity of parosmia.