Frequency of olfactory dysfunction in pregnant women with SARS-CoV-2 infection.

INTRODUCTION

In patients with COVID-19, olfactory dysfunction and anosmia have been reported, which in pregnant women occur in up to 24.2 %.

OBJECTIVE

To know the frequency at which pregnant women with SARS-CoV-2 infection have olfactory dysfunction.

METHODS

Age, gestational age, temperature, presence of nasal constipation or rhinorrhea, myalgia, headache, cough or chest pain were asked. Whether patients perceived and identified the scent of grape juice, coffee powder and menthol was evaluated. Central tendency and dispersion measures, frequencies and percentages were used. Sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive value were calculated. Mann-Whitney's U-test and contrast of proportions were used for comparisons between groups.

RESULTS

There was a higher proportion of women with cough, headache, dyspnea, myalgia, odynophagia, rhinorrhea, chest pain, and anosmia in SARS-CoV-2-positive women. In patients without COVID-19, 88.9 % detected each one of the scents; only 31.8 % of the positive group detected grapes scent, 47.7 % coffee and 59.1 % menthol, which had the highest percentages of sensitivity (40 %), specificity (21 %), positive predictive value (59 %) and negative predictive value (11 %).

CONCLUSION

Olfactory dysfunction occurs in a significant percentage of pregnant women with COVID-19.