Overview

• The RECOVER cohort reported that 80% of people who noticed smell changes after COVID-19 still scored low on testing, with 23% severely impaired or anosmic.
• Two-thirds of infected participants who perceived no smell problem nonetheless had abnormal results on the 40-odor University of Pennsylvania Smell Identification Test.
• The multicenter study is the largest objective assessment of post-COVID olfaction to date and was published Sept. 25 in JAMA Network Open.
• Investigators recommend adding smell checks to post-COVID care, citing safety and quality-of-life risks from undetected hyposmia, including difficulty detecting spoiled food, gas leaks, and smoke.
• Authors note limits such as no direct taste assessment and possible misclassification of uninfected participants, which could inflate impairment rates in comparison groups.