Olfactory disorders in children in the era of COVID-19 infection

Abstract

Introduction. Olfactory and taste disorders, occurring independently of rhinitis, are among the characteristic early symptoms of SARS-CoV-2 virus infection. The manifestation and severity of symptoms varies depending on the age of the patient or comorbidities. Aim. The aim of the following study was to investigate olfactory function in a pediatric population affected by SARS-CoV-2 infection, with the aim of improving knowledge of the distinctiveness of symptoms of this disease in children. Material and methods. A prospective cohort study was conducted on a group of 51 patients of the Pediatric Observation and Isolation Department WUM with active infection confirmed by the COVID-19 RT-PCR test, which was related to the results of an equal control group – patients of the Pediatric ENT Department of WUM, without a history of confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection. The study was carried out from January 2022 to January 2024. An 11-point VAS scale ( subjective examination) and the Sniffin’ Sticks psychophysical test with cross-cultural adaptation according to Sorokowska et al. were used to assess olfactory function. Results. The group of younger children indicated better olfactory performance on the VAS scale during the course of COVID-19, compared to the group of teenagers (p = 0.004). Similarly, children younger than 12 years of age achieved a better VAS level in olfactory assessment after COVID-19 infection (p = 0.02). There were no statistically significant differences for olfactory conditioning in the pre- and post-pandemic periods. For the IT and TT tests, in both age groups, the p-value level is greater than the standard threshold for statistical significance: 0.05, which means that we do not have enough evidence to reject the null hypothesis that the two samples come from the same distribution. In other words – the fact of passing COVID-19 infection, at one-year follow-up, does not translate into a worsening of the score in the IT and TT test. For the DT test, statistically significant differences were observed between the test and control groups, in both age ranges, obtaining p-value: 0.0015 < 0.05 and p-value: 0.0175 < 0.05, respectively. Conclusions. Our observations suggest a positive prognosis for olfactory sensitivity after SARS-CoV-2 infection in the pediatric population. We observed a trend of rapid withdrawal of olfactory impairment in children. The declaration of a disorder of the sense of smell is more clearly declared by adolescents (children > 12 years of age) than by early childhood, or preschool children.