PDF icon Download PDF
Open Access
CC BY 4.0 · Int Arch Otorhinolaryngol 2025; 29(03): s00451801854
DOI: 10.1055/s-0045-1801854
Original Research

Prevalence and Clinical Factors Associated with Self-reported Smell and Taste Disorders in Older Adults Hospitalized with COVID-19

Letícia de Carvalho Palhano Travassos 
1   Departament of Statistics, Centro de Ciências Exatas e da Natureza, Universidade Federal da Paraíba, João Pessoa, PB, Brazil
,
Hemílio Fernandes Campos Coelho
1   Departament of Statistics, Centro de Ciências Exatas e da Natureza, Universidade Federal da Paraíba, João Pessoa, PB, Brazil
,
Assel Muratovna Shigayeva Ferreira
1   Departament of Statistics, Centro de Ciências Exatas e da Natureza, Universidade Federal da Paraíba, João Pessoa, PB, Brazil
,
Leandro Pernambuco 
2   Department of Speech Therapy, Centro de Ciências da Saúde, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Recife, PE, Brazil
› Author Affiliations
Funding The authors declare that they did not receive funding from agencies in the public, private, or non-profit sectors to conduct the present study.
› Further Information
Also available ateRefMedOne
  Permissions and Reprints
Preview

Abstract

Introduction

Complaints of smell and taste disorders are present in people with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), and they particularly impact older adults in their daily activities and quality of life. Understanding these disorders in this specific population is crucial due to the heightened susceptibility to decreased general health.

Objective

To assess the prevalence and the factors associated with self-reported smell and taste disorders in older adults hospitalized with COVID-19.

Methods

The present documentary and retrospective study used a dataset from the Paraíba State Department of Health based on individual record sheets of hospitalized people with severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), collected through a national form routinely applied in Brazilian hospitals. The complaints of smell and taste disorders were the dependent variables. The independent variables included the clinical outcomes and comorbidities. Data analysis involved descriptive statistics, the Fisher's exact test, and binary logistic regression. The confidence interval was 95%.

Results

The sample comprised 5,014 older adults with a mean age of 74.50 ± 9.35 years, of both biological sexes, and most of them were admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), required non-invasive respiratory support, and experienced death. The prevalence of self-reported smell and taste disorders was 7.8% (95%CI = 7.2–8.8%) and 6.4% (95%CI = 5.6–7.1%) respectively. Smell disorders were less frequent among subjects admitted to the ICU and those who died, while taste disorders correlated with clinical outcomes such as fever, cough, sore throat, diarrhea, and comorbidities such as chronic neurological disease.

Conclusion

Self-reported smell and taste disorders are present in almost 10% of older adults hospitalized with COVID-19, and they are associated with clinical outcomes and commorbities.

Keywords

elderly - ageusia - anosmia - hospitalization - COVID-19 - logistic models


Publication History

Received: 03 January 2024

Accepted: 17 October 2024

Article published online:
29 July 2025

© 2025. The Author(s). This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

Thieme Revinter Publicações Ltda.
Rua Rego Freitas, 175, loja 1, República, São Paulo, SP, CEP 01220-010, Brazil

Bibliographical Record
Letícia de Carvalho Palhano Travassos, Hemílio Fernandes Campos Coelho, Assel Muratovna Shigayeva Ferreira, Leandro Pernambuco. Prevalence and Clinical Factors Associated with Self-reported Smell and Taste Disorders in Older Adults Hospitalized with COVID-19. Int Arch Otorhinolaryngol 2025; 29: s00451801854.
DOI: 10.1055/s-0045-1801854