TY - JOUR
T1 - Omega-3 Fatty Acid Supplementation for the Treatment of Persistent COVID-Related Olfactory Dysfunction
AU - Lerner, David K.
AU - Garvey, Katherine L.
AU - Arrighi-Allisan, Annie
AU - Kominsky, Evan
AU - Filimonov, Andrey
AU - Al-Awady, Abdurrahman
AU - Filip, Peter
AU - Liu, Katherine
AU - Ninan, Sen
AU - Spock, Todd
AU - Tweel, Benjamin
AU - van Gerwen, Maaike
AU - Schaberg, Madeleine
AU - Colley, Patrick
AU - Del Signore, Anthony
AU - Govindaraj, Satish
AU - Iloreta, Alfred Marc
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2023.
PY - 2023/9
Y1 - 2023/9
N2 - Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of omega-3 fatty acid (O3FA) supplementation in the treatment of COVID-related olfactory dysfunction (OD). Methods: Patients with laboratory-confirmed or clinically-suspected COVID-19 infection and new-onset OD from August 2020 to November 2021 were prospectively recruited. Patients with quantitative OD, defined as a brief smell identification test (BSIT) score of 9 or less, were eligible for study inclusion. The experimental group received 2 g of O3FA supplementation, while the control group received an identical placebo to be taken daily for 6 weeks. The primary outcome was a change in BSIT score between the initial and 6-week follow-up tests. Results: One hundred and seventeen patients were included in the analysis, including 57 patients in the O3FA group and 60 in the placebo group. O3FA group patients demonstrated a mean BSIT improvement of 1.12 ± 1.99 compared to 0.68 ± 1.86 in the placebo group (p = 0.221). Seventy-seven patients, 42 within the O3FA group and 35 in the placebo group, completed a follow-up BSIT survey at an average of 717.8 days from study onset. At long-term follow-up, there was an average BSIT score improvement of 1.72 within the O3FA group compared to 1.76 within the placebo group (p = 0.948). Conclusion: Among patients with persistent COVID-related OD, our study showed no clear evidence of relative short-term or long-term olfactory recovery among patients receiving high doses of O3FA supplementation.
AB - Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of omega-3 fatty acid (O3FA) supplementation in the treatment of COVID-related olfactory dysfunction (OD). Methods: Patients with laboratory-confirmed or clinically-suspected COVID-19 infection and new-onset OD from August 2020 to November 2021 were prospectively recruited. Patients with quantitative OD, defined as a brief smell identification test (BSIT) score of 9 or less, were eligible for study inclusion. The experimental group received 2 g of O3FA supplementation, while the control group received an identical placebo to be taken daily for 6 weeks. The primary outcome was a change in BSIT score between the initial and 6-week follow-up tests. Results: One hundred and seventeen patients were included in the analysis, including 57 patients in the O3FA group and 60 in the placebo group. O3FA group patients demonstrated a mean BSIT improvement of 1.12 ± 1.99 compared to 0.68 ± 1.86 in the placebo group (p = 0.221). Seventy-seven patients, 42 within the O3FA group and 35 in the placebo group, completed a follow-up BSIT survey at an average of 717.8 days from study onset. At long-term follow-up, there was an average BSIT score improvement of 1.72 within the O3FA group compared to 1.76 within the placebo group (p = 0.948). Conclusion: Among patients with persistent COVID-related OD, our study showed no clear evidence of relative short-term or long-term olfactory recovery among patients receiving high doses of O3FA supplementation.
KW - COVID-19 infection
KW - anosmia
KW - olfactory dysfunction
KW - quality of life
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U2 - 10.1177/19458924231174799
DO - 10.1177/19458924231174799
M3 - Article
C2 - 37261995
AN - SCOPUS:85162967316
SN - 1945-8924
VL - 37
SP - 531
EP - 540
JO - American Journal of Rhinology and Allergy
JF - American Journal of Rhinology and Allergy
IS - 5
ER -