Many studies have confirmed that chemosensory disorder (including smell, taste and chemesthesis) is one of the symptoms of COVID-19 infection. However, new data indicated that the changes of chemosensory sensation caused by COVID-19 may be different among different populations and COVID-19 variants. At present, there are few studies focusing on the influence of Omicron on qualitative changes and quantitative reductions of chemosensory in China. We conducted a cross‑sectional study on COVID-19 Omicron variant patients to investigate the prevalence of chemosensory disorders and their chemosensory function before and during infection by online questionnaire. A total of 1245 patients with COVID-19 completed the study. The prevalence of smell, taste and chemesthesis disorder was 69.2%, 67.7% and 31.4% respectively. Sex, age, smoking and COVID-19-related symptoms such as lack of appetite, dyspnea and fatigue may have association with chemosensory disorders during COVID-19. Self-ratings of chemosensory function revealed that patients experienced a decline in the function of smell, taste and chemesthesis generally. Further studies are needed to combine the data using objective assessment and investigate the factors affecting chemosensory in COVID-19 through longitudinal research.

The authors have declared no competing interest.

This study did not receive any funding.

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Ethics Committee of Southern Medical University gave ethical approval for this work.

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