Informatics and Engineering Systems Faculty Publications
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
8-1-2026
Abstract
Background and Aims: Olfactory dysfunction (OD) is common in COVID-19, yet its relationship with pulmonary involvement remains inconsistent. We evaluated the association between CT-based lung involvement and OD in laboratory-confirmed COVID-19.
Methods: In a prospective cross-sectional study (Yasuj University of Medical Sciences hospitals; December 26, 2021–May 22, 2022), OD was assessed using the CCCRC protocol and pulmonary involvement was categorized using a CT lung involvement score. Associations were examined using chi-square testing (categorical) and ANOVA where appropriate (α = 0.05).
Results: Among 120 patients (60 male/60 female; mean age 43.17 ± 14.76 years), 71 (59.2%) had hyposmia, and none had complete anosmia. CT pulmonary involvement was present in 40 (33.3%). OD category was significantly associated with the pulmonary involvement category (chi-square test; P value as reported in the Results section).
Conclusion: OD was frequent and showed a statistically significant association with CT-based pulmonary involvement; however, OD severity alone should not be used as a stand-alone surrogate for pulmonary involvement. Larger multicenter studies are needed to clarify the observed pattern.
Recommended Citation
Ghadimi‐Moghadam, Abdolkarim, Saed Askari, Mohammad Amin Ghatee, Alireza Mortazavi, Saeed Javdansirat, Ali Ghadimi Moghadam, Hassan Vafapour, Zaker Salehi, Seyed Mohammad Javad Mortazavi, and Lembit Sihver. "Exploring the Paradoxical Association Between Chest CT Pulmonary Involvement and Olfactory Dysfunction in COVID‐19 Patients: A Prospective Cross‐Sectional Study." Health Science Reports 9, no. 8 (2026): e72777. https://doi.org/10.1002/hsr2.72777
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Publication Title
Health Science Reports
DOI
10.1002/hsr2.72777
Comments
© 2026 The Author(s). Health Science Reportspublished by Wiley Periodicals LLC.
This is an open access article under the terms of the http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.