Patient-reported outcome questionnaires
The impact of COVID-19 on sinonasal symptoms was evaluated through the
French version of the sino-nasal outcome test-22
(SNOT-22),9 a validated patient-reported outcome
questionnaire from the original U.S. 20-item
version.10
The impact of olfactory dysfunction on quality of life was assessed
through the short version of the Questionnaire of Olfactory
Disorders-Negative Statements (sQOD-NS).11 sQOD-NS is
a 7-item patient-reported outcome questionnaire. Patients rated the item
proposition from 0 (agree) to 3 (disagree) with total score ranging from
0 (significant impact of olfactory dysfunction on QoL) to 21 (no impact
on QoL). Authors used sQOD-NS for its ease of completion.
The olfactory and gustatory questions were based on the smell and taste
component of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey
(NHNES).12 NHNES is a population survey that
continuously monitors the health of adult citizens in the U.S. through a
nationally representative sample of 5,000 persons on a yearly
basis.12 The questions have been selected to
characterize the variation, timing and associated-symptoms of both
olfactory and gustatory dysfunction.
Psychophysical
Olfactory Evaluation
The psychophysical olfactory evaluations were performed using the
identification sniffin’ sticks test (Medisense, Groningen, The
Netherlands), which is a validated objective test of olfactory
dysfunction.13 A total of 16 scents were presented via
a pen device to patients for 3 seconds followed by a forced choice from
4 given options with a total possible score of 16 points. According to
the results, patients were classified as normosmic (score between
12-16), hyposmic (score between 9-11) or anosmic (score 8 or below).