VALIDAÇÃO DO QUESTIONÁRIO DE DISTÚRBIOS DO OLFATO PARA A LÍNGUA PORTUGUESA DO BRASIL EM PACIENTES COM SÍNDROME PÓS COVID-19voltar para a edição atual

INTRODUCTION: Olfactory dysfunction (OD) has been recognized as a long COVID symptom, considering that many patients report persistence after one month of disease onset. Here we aimed to evaluate the impact of OD on quality of life (QoL) of patients with confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection. METHODS: This is a cross-sectional study performed between August, 2021 to March, 2022 at the Centro Pos-COVID (CPC), a public health outpatient clinic located in Salvador-Bahia (Brazil). Patients with mild to severe SARS-CoV-2 infection that persisted with olfactory dysfunction after one month of disease onset were invited to participate. QoL was accessed using the Questionnaire of Olfactory Disorders Questionnaire (QOD), translated and validated to Brazilian Portuguese. The QOD assesses parosmia (QOD-P) and QoL (QOD-LQ) in likert-type questions, originating final scores from 0 to 100, with high results corresponding to worst QOL impairment. Totally and partially agreed were considered as positive responses for individual frequency analysis. University of Pennsylvania Smell Identification Test (UPSIT) were performed to evaluate olfactory function, respectively. RESULTS: We evaluated 33 patients (67% female, 52±12.5 years, 76% black and mixed race), with history of mild (n=18), moderate (n=8) or severe (n=7) COVID-19 that persisted with olfactory complaints 8.6 (6.5–12.8) months after disease onset. The majority reported irritability (91%), anxiety (88%), eating disorders (88%) and fear of danger situations (85%). We observed high impact in QoL measured by QOD-LQ (58±19.3 on a scale from 0 to 100) and parosmia, measured by QOD-P. In total, 25 individuals scored above 75 in QDO-P, with 11 individuals presenting maximum scores in parosmia statements impairment. According to the UPSIT test, severe hyposmia and anosmia were detected in 19 (65%) and 4 (14%) patients and were not associated with QoL. Parosmia strongly correlated with worse QoL (?=0.547,p=0.001). DISCUSSION/CONCLUSION: Long COVID patients may experience prolonged OD and major impact on QoL. The OD impact on QoL is subjective and does not appear to be associated with the degree of olfactory alteration. Smell-related QoL influences general mental health, demonstrated by the alterations in SF-12 domains. In light of these findings, specific QoL evaluation for COVID-19 patients with OD has proven relevant and may prevent potential damage to affected individuals.