![\"News](\"https:\/\/media.healthday.com\/Images\/icimages\/40028.jpg\"\/)
<\/p>\n
TUESDAY, Oct. 27, 2020<\/p>\n
Loss of smell<\/a> is common in COVID-19<\/a>, but fewer people say they have this symptom than objective tests reveal, a new study finds.<\/p>\n In fact, about 77% of COVID-19<\/a> patients who were directly measured had smell loss, but only 44% said they did, researchers found.<\/p>\n Direct measures of smell involve having patients smell and report on actual odors, while self-reporting includes getting data through patient questionnaires, interviews or electronic health records, the study authors explained.<\/p>\n “Objective measures are a more sensitive method to identify smell loss related to COVID-19<\/a>,” said study co-author Mackenzie Hannum, a postdoctoral fellow at Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia.<\/p>\n Subjective measures, “while expedient during the early stages of the pandemic, underestimate the true prevalence of smell loss,” said Vicente Ramirez, a doctoral student at the University of California, Merced, and summer intern at Monell.<\/p>\n The research suggests subjective measures underestimate the true extent of smell loss and that it may be an effective tool for diagnosing COVID-19<\/a> early, the authors said in a Monell news release.<\/p>\n For the study, the researchers reviewed previously published studies on COVID-19<\/a> and loss of smell<\/a>.<\/p>\n Their findings were published online recently in the journal Chemical Senses<\/i>.<\/p>\n Senior author Danielle Reed, associate director at Monell, suggested that “measuring people for smell loss may become as routine as measuring body temperature for fever<\/a>.”<\/p>\n — Steven Reinberg<\/p>\n <\/p><\/div>\n![\"MedicalNews\"](\"https:\/\/images.medicinenet.com\/images\/HealthDay\/healthday.png\")
Copyright \u00a9 2020 HealthDay. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n