Predictive value of smell and taste test vs pcr-rt sars-cov-2 and rapid diagnostic tests in the diagnosis of infection by covid-19. a prospective multi-centric study

There is a relationship between smell and taste disturbances and coronavirus infection. These symptoms have been considered the best predictor of coronavirus infection, for this reason, it was decided to evaluate the predictive value of the smell and taste test and its association with the results of SARS-CoV-2 PCR-RT and rapid diagnostic tests. in the diagnosis of pathology. Methodology: 248 patients divided into 3 groups: asymptomatic, symptomatic without chemosensory disorders, and chemosensory disorders alone. All of them underwent SARS-CoV-2 PCR-RT, a rapid diagnostic test and a test of Venezuelan smell and basic taste at the beginning. Weekly follow-up with smell and taste test and SARS-CoV-2 PCR-RT until recovery. Results: 20.56% of patients had smell and taste disorders to a variable degree and were positive by SARS-CoV-PCR-RT. 2.15.3% of patients with chemosensory disorders were negative for COVID-19. The positive predictive value of the smell and taste test was 57.3; Sensitivity 41.13% and specificity 69.35%. There were no statistically significant differences by age, sex and chemosensory disorders. The predominant chemosensory disorder was the combination of mild hyposmia and hypogeusia and appeared in the company of other symptoms. Recovery occurred in an average of 8.5 days, asynchronously with the SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR negativization, which occurred up to more than 15 days after the senses recovered. Maximum time of negativization of the RT-PCR of 34 days. Conclusion: chemosensory disorders are a symptom and / or sign of coronavirus disease but cannot be considered as predictors of said disease in this population studied. The gold standard remains the SARS-CoV-2 PCR-RT test. Rapid diagnostic tests should be used for follow-up. Recommendations: it is necessary to expand the sample, include routine psychophysical smell and taste tests to screen cases and take race and virus mutations into consideration to explain behavior in certain populations. ### Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest. ### Funding Statement Self-financed by the authors and the Ministry of People's Power for Health ### Author Declarations I confirm all relevant ethical guidelines have been followed, and any necessary IRB and/or ethics committee approvals have been obtained. Yes The details of the IRB/oversight body that provided approval or exemption for the research described are given below: The Bioethics Commission of the Hospital Militar Universitario Dr. Carlos Arvelo All necessary patient/participant consent has been obtained and the appropriate institutional forms have been archived. Yes I understand that all clinical trials and any other prospective interventional studies must be registered with an ICMJE-approved registry, such as ClinicalTrials.gov. I confirm that any such study reported in the manuscript has been registered and the trial registration ID is provided (note: if posting a prospective study registered retrospectively, please provide a statement in the trial ID field explaining why the study was not registered in advance). Yes I have followed all appropriate research reporting guidelines and uploaded the relevant EQUATOR Network research reporting checklist(s) and other pertinent material as supplementary files, if applicable. Yes all data can be used