Location
Philadelphia, PA
Start Date
10-5-2021 12:00 AM
End Date
13-5-2021 12:00 AM
Description
Introduction: Up to 60% of people infected with SARS-CoV-2 report anosmia or ageusia during their disease course. “COVID Smell Tracker” is a smart phone application (app) developed to elucidate the onset, duration and extent of anosmia and ageusia through questionnaires.
Methods: “COVID Smell Tracker” is publicly available on smart phone devices (www.covidsmelltracker.org). Users complete surveys around demographics, medical history, COVID status and symptomology. Deidentified responses were collated and analyzed using descriptive statistics.
Results: Of the 266 users included, the majority were located in Europe (43%) and North America (33%). Male, Caucasian users were most common (54.9% and 61.7% respectively), followed by Indian (10.5%) and Latino (9.4%). The majority of users reported no COVID testing (63%). 164 users reported COVID-related symptoms, and 57% of them reported olfactory dysfunction. Users who were younger age (p = 0.0003) and with type A and B blood types (p = 0.021) experienced smell loss at higher frequencies. Dysgeusia was associated with 28-34% of patients with concomitant smell loss, versus 6%-9% in users without. Smell loss was described as “sudden” (63%), occurring on average 3 days following the onset of any other symptom. Of those that reported resolution of their smell loss, 50% resolved in 1 week, with 75% resolution reported within 1 month.
Conclusions: The results herein correlate with other established COVID-related studies, despite relying on purely volunteered data from participants from around the world. This is the first study to suggest an association of age and blood type with smell loss. Mobile app use offers a novel method for safe, remote and granular insight into those suffering from infectious diseases like COVID-19.
Embargo Period
6-3-2021
COVID Smell Tracker: A research-based mobile application to study smell loss in subjects with COVID-19
Philadelphia, PA
Introduction: Up to 60% of people infected with SARS-CoV-2 report anosmia or ageusia during their disease course. “COVID Smell Tracker” is a smart phone application (app) developed to elucidate the onset, duration and extent of anosmia and ageusia through questionnaires.
Methods: “COVID Smell Tracker” is publicly available on smart phone devices (www.covidsmelltracker.org). Users complete surveys around demographics, medical history, COVID status and symptomology. Deidentified responses were collated and analyzed using descriptive statistics.
Results: Of the 266 users included, the majority were located in Europe (43%) and North America (33%). Male, Caucasian users were most common (54.9% and 61.7% respectively), followed by Indian (10.5%) and Latino (9.4%). The majority of users reported no COVID testing (63%). 164 users reported COVID-related symptoms, and 57% of them reported olfactory dysfunction. Users who were younger age (p = 0.0003) and with type A and B blood types (p = 0.021) experienced smell loss at higher frequencies. Dysgeusia was associated with 28-34% of patients with concomitant smell loss, versus 6%-9% in users without. Smell loss was described as “sudden” (63%), occurring on average 3 days following the onset of any other symptom. Of those that reported resolution of their smell loss, 50% resolved in 1 week, with 75% resolution reported within 1 month.
Conclusions: The results herein correlate with other established COVID-related studies, despite relying on purely volunteered data from participants from around the world. This is the first study to suggest an association of age and blood type with smell loss. Mobile app use offers a novel method for safe, remote and granular insight into those suffering from infectious diseases like COVID-19.