Shammah AA*, Alasmari BA, Alfakeeh GA and Azizalrahman RW
Background: The present meta-analysis aimed to assess if the anosmia and dysgeusia signs to obligate PCR (COVID-19) test and to Identity the prevalence of anosmia and dysgeusia in Saudi patients with a positive COVID-19 test and if there is relationship between the gender and prevalence.
Materials and methods: Meta-analysis were done using a restricted maximum likelihood estimator model to yield a point estimate and 95% CI for each subgroup analyzed, with a random effect for each study. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) reporting guideline was followed. Electronic databases (Proquest, Medline, Embase, Pubmed, CINAHL, Wiley online library and Nature) were searched from 1 January 2020 to 31 December 2021.
Results: Overall, 10 studies were identified in this meta analysis. Firstly, regarding the prevalence of anosmia and dysgeusia, six studies were included, 1374 patients suffered from dysgeusia and 1329 patients suffered from anosmia. The results showed significance between anosmia and dysgeusia (p<0.00001) with high variation of selected studies in heterogeneity by 98% in addition to chi square value of 202.53 and finally, patients with anosmia were higher by 1.62-folds than with dysgeusia. Secondly, concerning prevalence in gender, ten studies were concluded; number of females was 1899 compared with number of males 2194. There was significant difference between them (p<0.00001) which is confirmed by hetergeneity of 96% of very high variation among studies and chi square value as well, 213.4. The prevalence in females was higher by 0.77-folds than in males.
Conclusion: Anosmia and dysgeusia are prevalent in COVID-19 Saudi patients but the result showed high prevalence of Anosmia in patients than dysgeusia to obligate PCR (COVID-19) test. Moreover, females showed high prevalence than males concerning the COVID-19 obligation to PCR.
Published Date: 2023-09-28; Received Date: 2023-08-04
