Frequency and severity of general and ear nose throat (ENT)- related symptoms in COVID-19 patients in a tertiary care hospital – A retrospective observational study

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Background: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious respiratory and vascular disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), a specific type of coronavirus. This human RNA coronavirus was isolated in December 2019 in the city of Wuhan, China. In March 2020, World Health Organization (WHO) declared that COVID-19 is a pandemic disease. The aim of this study was to determine the frequency and severity of the general symptoms of patients diagnosed with SARS-CoV-2, as well as the frequency and severity of ENT-related symptoms. Material & Methods: This was a retrospective observational study and was conducted in the Department of Otolaryngology & Head Neck Surgery of Dr Sirajul Islam Medical College & Hospital, Dhaka, Bangladesh during the period from July, 2020 to June,2021. In this study, we included 250 patients who had a history of SARS-CoV-2 infection, confirmed by PCR testing. Results: The majority (26.8%) of our patients were aged > 65 years, & most of our patients were male (55%). Mean age was 50.35 ± 17.41 years. Majority (38.4%) of our patients had HTN, 33.6% had DM, & only 15.2% had asthma. Among all patients, runny nose (81.6%), fever (74.8%), loss of sense of smell (73.6%) , loss of sense of taste (67.6%) were the most common symptoms. Olfactory dysfunction (78.4%) was the most common. We found severe cases of taste disturbance while dyspnea & headache indicates a moderate level of severity. Sore throat, runny nose & tinnitus were assessed as mild levels of severity. Conclusion: In our study, we found patients infected with SARS-CoV-2 may present to hospitals with a variety of general and ENT symptoms. Age, vertigo/dizziness, sore throats, and tinnitus was significantly related to frequency & severity of ENT symptoms associated with COVID-19 infection. Symptoms related to the sense of smell, taste and hearing are some of the most common symptoms in the course of COVID-19, which is important in the therapeutic and epidemiological management of patients.

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