Prospective Study in 355 Patients With Suspected COVID‐19 Infection: Value of Cough, Subjective Hyposmia, and Hypogeusia (original) (raw)

ObjectiveTo evaluate the incidence of certain symptoms in a population of health workers exposed to coronavirus disease 2019 patients.Study DesignCase‐control study.MethodsThe study was conducted at a tertiary care hospital from March 1 to April 7, 2020. Health workers with suspected coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) infection were included. The presence of COVID‐19 was detected by using real‐time polymerase chain reaction (RT‐PCR) methods. Positive and negative RT‐PCR patients were used as case and control groups, respectively.This study analyzed the incidence of COVID‐19 symptoms in both patient groups. Visual analog scales were used for self‐assessment of smell and taste disorders, ranging from 0 (no perception) to 10 (excellent perception).ResultsThere were 215 (60.6%) patients with positive RT‐PCR and 140 (39.4%) patients with negative RT‐PCR. The presence of symptoms such as hyposmia hypogeusia, dysthermia, and cough were strongly associated with a positive RT‐PCR. The assoc...