The effect of post‐COVID‐19 on gustatory and olfactory function: A preliminary case‐controlled study

Aims The aim of the study was to analyze objective and subjective olfactory/gustatory function in post‐COVID‐19 infection (PCI). Materials and Methods Patients with past PCR‐confirmed COVID‐19 infection and persistent olfactory/gustatory complaints were investigated. Olfactory threshold and identification, gustatory detection, identification, and magnitude scaling were tested. Results A total of 42 PCI subjects were compared to 41 age‐ and gender‐matched controls with no COVID‐19 history. All PCI tested had mild COVID‐19 disease. Mean interval between COVID‐19 confirmations to testing was 7.4 ± 3.1 months. PCI subjects complained of combined dysfunction in 85.7%, isolated olfactory or gustatory dysfunction in 7.1% each. Combined complaints were significantly higher in PCI (p