Background: Chemosensitive disorders are very frequent in the early stages of COVID-19 and in paucisymptomatic cases. These patients are typically placed in home quarantine. This study has the aim of validating a new olfactory and gustatory objective evaluation test in these patients.
Methods: Thirty-three home-quarantined COVID-19 patients have undergone a self-administered chemosensitive test the day before the control swab. On this occasion, the patients underwent operator-administered already validated tests. The results were finally compared.
Results: The differences between the results of the two tests were not significant for both the olfaction (P =.201) and the taste (P =.180).
Conclusion: The olfactory and gustatory evaluation by self-administered test can be considered a valid tool, fundamental for obtaining objective qualitative and quantitative data on the extent of chemosensitive disorders in home-quarantined COVID-19 patients.
Keywords: COVID-19; ageusia; anosmia; gustatory function; olfactory function.
© 2020 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.