Olfactory Training and Visual Stimulation Assisted by a Web Application for Patients With Persistent Olfactory Dysfunction After SARS-CoV-2 Infection: Observational Study
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Abstract
Persistent olfactory dysfunction is a significant complication of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Olfactory training involving aromatic oils has been recommended to improve olfactory recovery, but quantitative data are missing.
Objective
We aimed to quantify the benefit of olfactory training and visual stimulation assisted by a dedicated web application for patients who experienced olfactory dysfunction for ≥1 month.
Methods
We performed an observational, real-life, data-based study on a cohort of patients who experienced at least 1 month of persistent olfactory dysfunction between January 30 and March 26, 2021. An analysis was performed after a mean olfactory training time of 4 weeks, and at least 500 patients were assessable for primary outcome assessment. Participants exposed themselves twice daily to odors from 4 high-concentration oils and visual stimulation assisted by a dedicated web application. Improvement was defined as a 2-point increase on a 10-point, self-assessed olfactory visual analogue scale.
Results
In total, 548 patients were assessable for primary outcome assessment. The mean baseline, self-assessed olfactory score was 1.9 (SD 1.7), and this increased to 4.6 (SD 2.8) after a mean olfactory training time of 27.7 days (SD 17.2). Olfactory training was associated with at least a 2-point increase in 64.2% (352/548) of patients. The rate of patients’ olfactory improvement was higher for patients who trained for more than 28 days than that rate for patients who trained for less than 28 days (73.3% vs 59%; P=.002). The time to olfactory improvement was 8 days faster for patients with hyposmia compared to the time to improvement for patients with anosmia (P<.001). This benefit was observed regardless of the duration of the olfactory dysfunction.
Conclusions
Olfactory training and visual stimulation assisted by a dedicated web application was associated with significant improvement in olfaction, especially after 28 days of olfactory training.
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SciScore for 10.1101/2021.05.13.21257176: (What is this?)
Please note, not all rigor criteria are appropriate for all manuscripts.
Table 1: Rigor
Ethics not detected. Sex as a biological variable Exclusion criteria were normosmia (visual scale score >7/10), other causes of olfactory dysfunction such as chronic rhinosinusitis, nasal polyposis, allergic or idiopathic rhinitis, post-traumatic olfactory loss, or other acute or chronic nasal diseases (e.g., acute viral infections), malignant tumors or/and oncology therapies (radiation, chemotherapy), and history of surgery on the nose or paranasal sinuses. Randomization not detected. Blinding They should sniff each odor for approximately 15 seconds blind and repeat this once with the name and a picture of the oil component on the screen by the application 30 seconds later (for example a picture of a … SciScore for 10.1101/2021.05.13.21257176: (What is this?)
Please note, not all rigor criteria are appropriate for all manuscripts.
Table 1: Rigor
Ethics not detected. Sex as a biological variable Exclusion criteria were normosmia (visual scale score >7/10), other causes of olfactory dysfunction such as chronic rhinosinusitis, nasal polyposis, allergic or idiopathic rhinitis, post-traumatic olfactory loss, or other acute or chronic nasal diseases (e.g., acute viral infections), malignant tumors or/and oncology therapies (radiation, chemotherapy), and history of surgery on the nose or paranasal sinuses. Randomization not detected. Blinding They should sniff each odor for approximately 15 seconds blind and repeat this once with the name and a picture of the oil component on the screen by the application 30 seconds later (for example a picture of a lemon during lemon oil sniff)… Patients were asked to train in the morning and in the evening, resulting in a total of four expositions per day per odor. Power Analysis not detected. Table 2: Resources
Software and Algorithms Sentences Resources All statistical analyses were conducted with the SAS® System, Version 9.3 (SAS Institute Inc. Cary, NC, USA). SAS Institutesuggested: (Statistical Analysis System, RRID:SCR_008567)Results from OddPub: We did not detect open data. We also did not detect open code. Researchers are encouraged to share open data when possible (see Nature blog).
Results from LimitationRecognizer: An explicit section about the limitations of the techniques employed in this study was not found. We encourage authors to address study limitations.Results from TrialIdentifier: We found the following clinical trial numbers in your paper:
Identifier Status Title NCT04806880 Recruiting Study Evaluating the Olfactory Recovery of Anosmia Post COVI… Results from Barzooka: We did not find any issues relating to the usage of bar graphs.
Results from JetFighter: We did not find any issues relating to colormaps.
Results from rtransparent:- Thank you for including a conflict of interest statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
- Thank you for including a funding statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
- No protocol registration statement was detected.
Results from scite Reference Check: We found one unreliable citation. If you need to cite a retracted paper, we recommend noting at the beginning of the citation that the paper is retracted (i.e. RETRACTED: Title of paper, authors, journal, etc.).
DOI Status Title 10.1016/s0140-6736(20)31180-6 True RETRACTED: Hydroxychloroquine or chloroquine with or without… -
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