Abstract

Background: To evaluate the smell and taste impairment in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pediatric patients according to the disease severity.
Methods: Ninety polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test confirmed COVID-19 patients were enrolled from January 2020 to July 2021. Patients were categorized into three main groups according to the stage of disease (stage 1: outpatient, stage 2: inpatients, stage 3: intensive care unit patients) There were 30 pediatric patients in each group. Subjects were evaluated with a questionnaire. Visual analog scale (VAS) was used to evaluate smell and taste impairment patients.
Results: The impairment of smell and taste were evaluated separately and the rates were found to be 31.1% and 35.6%, respectively. The impairment of smell showed a statistically significant difference between the groups (p=0.002). The rate of smell impairment in the outpatients was found to be significantly higher than the patients treated in the intensive care unit. The taste impairment didn’t show a statistically significant difference between the groups (p=0.109; p>0.01). Persistence of smell and taste impairment was found in 5.5% of the patients.
Conclusion: The rate of smell impairment in the outpatients was found to be significantly higher than the cases treated in the intensive care unit.

Key words: COVID-19, Taste, Smell, Olfactory Impairment, Pediatrics