{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,15]],"date-time":"2026-10-15T11:02:20Z","timestamp":1792062140936,"version":"4.4.0"},"reference-count":26,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"5","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,3,2]],"date-time":"2021-03-02T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1614643200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["JCM"],"abstract":"<jats:p>A significant proportion of people infected with SARS-CoV-2 report a new onset of smell or taste loss. The duration of the chemosensory impairment and predictive factors of recovery are still unclear. We aimed to investigate the prevalence, temporal course and recovery predictors in patients who suffered from varying disease severity. Consecutive adult patients diagnosed to be infected with SARS-CoV-2 via reverse-transcription\u2013polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) at two coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) Reference Hospitals were contacted to complete a survey reporting chemosensory loss, severity, timing and duration, nasal symptoms, smoking, allergic rhinitis, chronic rhinosinusitis, comorbidities and COVID-19 severity. In a cross-sectional study, we contacted 182 patients and 150 responded. Excluding the critically ill patients, 38% reported gustatory and 41% olfactory impairment (74% severe\/anosmia). Most of the patients (88%) recovered their sense of smell by two months (median: 11.5 days; IQR: 13.3). For 23%, the olfactory loss lasted longer than a month. There were no significant differences in the prevalence and duration of chemosensory loss between groups of varying COVID-19 severity, and sexes (all p &gt; 0.05). Moderate hyposmia resolved quicker than more severe loss (p = 0.04). Smell and taste loss are highly prevalent in COVID-19. Most patients recover fast, but nearly one out of ten have not recovered in two months.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/jcm10050966","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,3,2]],"date-time":"2021-03-02T01:49:44Z","timestamp":1614649784000},"page":"966","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":64,"title":["Smell and Taste Loss Recovery Time in COVID-19 Patients and Disease Severity"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"10","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6433-872X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Athanasia","family":"Printza","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"First Otolaryngology Department, Medical School, Faculty of Health Sciences, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Mihalis","family":"Katotomichelakis","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Otolaryngology Department, School of Health Sciences, Democritus University of Thrace, Dragana, 387479 Alexandroupoli, Greece"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Konstantinos","family":"Valsamidis","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"First Otolaryngology Department, Medical School, Faculty of Health Sciences, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Symeon","family":"Metallidis","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"First Department of Internal Medicine, AHEPA Hospital, Medical School, Faculty of Health Sciences, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Periklis","family":"Panagopoulos","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Internal Medicine, School of Health Sciences, Democritus University of Thrace, Dragana, 387479 Alexandroupoli, Greece"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Maria","family":"Panopoulou","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Laboratory of Microbiology, School of Health Sciences, Democritus University of Thrace, Dragana, 387479 Alexandroupoli, Greece"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Vasilis","family":"Petrakis","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Internal Medicine, School of Health Sciences, Democritus University of Thrace, Dragana, 387479 Alexandroupoli, Greece"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jannis","family":"Constantinidis","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"First Otolaryngology Department, Medical School, Faculty of Health Sciences, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,3,2]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2944","DOI":"10.1021\/acschemneuro.0c00460","article-title":"Prevalence of Chemosensory Dysfunction in COVID-19 Patients: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis Reveals Significant Ethnic Differences","volume":"11","author":"Hagen","year":"2020","journal-title":"ACS Chem. Neurosci."},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"12","DOI":"10.1177\/0194599820926464","article-title":"Olfactory Dysfunction: A Highly Prevalent Symptom of COVID-19 with Public Health Significance","volume":"163","author":"Sedaghat","year":"2020","journal-title":"Otolaryngol. Neck Surg."},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"449","DOI":"10.1093\/chemse\/bjaa034","article-title":"Relationship between odor intensity estimates and COVID-19 prevalence prediction in a Swedish population","volume":"45","author":"Iravani","year":"2020","journal-title":"Chem. Sens."},{"key":"ref_4","first-page":"66","article-title":"The clinical course of smell and taste loss in COVID-19 hospitalized patients","volume":"24","author":"Printza","year":"2020","journal-title":"Hippokratia"},{"key":"ref_5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"582802","DOI":"10.3389\/fmed.2020.582802","article-title":"Severity of Anosmia as an Early Symptom of COVID-19 Infection May Predict Lasting Loss of Smell","volume":"7","author":"Lechien","year":"2020","journal-title":"Front. Med."},{"key":"ref_6","unstructured":"Gerkin, R.C., Ohla, K., Veldhuizen, M.G., Joseph, P.V., E Kelly, C., Bakke, A.J., E Steele, K., Farruggia, M.C., Pellegrino, R., and Pepino, M.Y. (2020). Recent smell loss is the best predictor of COVID-19 among individuals with recent respiratory symptoms. Chem. Senses."},{"key":"ref_7","first-page":"1","article-title":"Smell and taste recovery in coronavirus disease 2019 patients: A 60-day objective and prospective study","volume":"134","author":"Hopkins","year":"2020","journal-title":"J. Laryngol. Otol."},{"key":"ref_8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2625","DOI":"10.1007\/s00405-020-06069-6","article-title":"The role of self-reported smell and taste disorders in suspected COVID-19","volume":"277","author":"Printza","year":"2020","journal-title":"Eur. Arch. Otorhinolaryngol."},{"key":"ref_9","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"102725","DOI":"10.1016\/j.amjoto.2020.102725","article-title":"Early recovery patterns of olfactory disorders in COVID-19 patients; a clinical cohort study","volume":"41","author":"Amer","year":"2020","journal-title":"Am. J. Otolaryngol."},{"key":"ref_10","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2057","DOI":"10.1002\/acn3.51166","article-title":"Neurological manifestations of coronavirus infections\u2014A systematic review","volume":"7","author":"Almqvist","year":"2020","journal-title":"Ann. Clin. Transl. Neurol."},{"key":"ref_11","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"110469","DOI":"10.1016\/j.mehy.2020.110469","article-title":"COVID-19 and chronic fatigue syndrome: Is the worst yet to come?","volume":"146","author":"Wostyn","year":"2021","journal-title":"Med. Hypotheses"},{"key":"ref_12","unstructured":"(2020, June 29). Available online: Who.int\/publications\/i\/item\/clinical-management-of-covid-19."},{"key":"ref_13","first-page":"404","article-title":"Time scale for resolution of olfactory dysfunction in COVID-19","volume":"58","author":"Speth","year":"2020","journal-title":"Rhinol. J."},{"key":"ref_14","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"821","DOI":"10.1002\/alr.22592","article-title":"Self-reported olfactory loss associates with outpatient clinical course in COVID-19","volume":"10","author":"Yan","year":"2020","journal-title":"Int. Forum Allergy Rhinol."},{"key":"ref_15","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"589409","DOI":"10.3389\/fmed.2020.589409","article-title":"Smell and Taste in Severe CoViD-19: Self-Reported vs. Testing","volume":"7","author":"Mazzatenta","year":"2020","journal-title":"Front. Med."},{"key":"ref_16","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"944","DOI":"10.1002\/alr.22587","article-title":"Smell dysfunction: A biomarker for COVID-19","volume":"10","author":"Moein","year":"2020","journal-title":"Int. Forum Allergy Rhinol."},{"key":"ref_17","first-page":"1","article-title":"The coronavirus disease 2019: The prevalence, prognosis, and recovery from olfactory dysfunction (OD)","volume":"11","author":"Rahmaty","year":"2020","journal-title":"Acta Otolaryngol."},{"key":"ref_18","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"114","DOI":"10.1177\/0194599820929185","article-title":"Olfactory Dysfunction and Sinonasal Symptomatology in COVID-19: Prevalence, Severity, Timing, and Associated Characteristics","volume":"163","author":"Speth","year":"2020","journal-title":"Otolaryngol. Neck Surg."},{"key":"ref_19","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Altundag, A., Saatci, O., Sanli, D.E.T., Duz, O.A., Sanli, A.N., Olmuscelik, O., Temirbekov, D., Kandemirli, S.G., and Karaaltin, A.B. (2020). The temporal course of COVID-19 anosmia and relation to other clinical symptoms. Eur. Arch. Otorhinolaryngol., 1\u20137.","DOI":"10.1007\/s00405-020-06496-5"},{"key":"ref_20","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"451","DOI":"10.1111\/coa.13683","article-title":"Course of symptoms for loss of sense of smell and taste over time in one thousand forty-one healthcare workers during the Covid-19 pandemic: Our experience","volume":"46","author":"Lechner","year":"2020","journal-title":"Clin. Otolaryngol."},{"key":"ref_21","first-page":"26","article-title":"Six month follow-up of self-reported loss of smell during the COVID-19 pandemic","volume":"59","author":"Hopkins","year":"2021","journal-title":"Rhinol. J."},{"key":"ref_22","first-page":"ciaa1792","article-title":"Long COVID in the Faroe Islands\u2014A longitudinal study among non-hospitalized patients","volume":"30","author":"Petersen","year":"2020","journal-title":"Clin. Infect. Dis."},{"key":"ref_23","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e103744","DOI":"10.5812\/jjm.103744","article-title":"SARS-CoV, MERS-CoV, SARS-CoV-2 Comparison of Three Emerging Coronaviruses","volume":"13","author":"Zeidler","year":"2020","journal-title":"Jundishapur J. Microbiol."},{"key":"ref_24","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Stavem, K., Ghanima, W., Olsen, M.K., Gilboe, H.M., and Einvik, G. (2020). Persistent symptoms 1.5\u20136 months after COVID-19 in non-hospitalised subjects: A population-based cohort study. Thorax.","DOI":"10.1136\/thoraxjnl-2020-216377"},{"key":"ref_25","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1105","DOI":"10.1002\/alr.22655","article-title":"Psychophysical tests reveal impaired olfaction but preserved gustation in COVID-19 patients","volume":"10","author":"Hintschich","year":"2020","journal-title":"Int. Forum Allergy Rhinol."},{"key":"ref_26","first-page":"159","article-title":"Patient recall and recall bias of health state and health status","volume":"4","author":"Schmier","year":"2004","journal-title":"Expert Rev. Pharm. Outcomes Res."}],"container-title":["Journal of Clinical Medicine"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2077-0383\/10\/5\/966\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,11]],"date-time":"2025-10-11T05:31:09Z","timestamp":1760160669000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2077-0383\/10\/5\/966"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2021,3,2]]},"references-count":26,"journal-issue":{"issue":"5","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,3]]}},"alternative-id":["jcm10050966"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/jcm10050966","relation":{},"ISSN":["2077-0383"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2077-0383","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2021,3,2]]}}}