scholarly journals Persistent Gustatory Dysfunction in COVID-19 Survivors: A Narrative Literature Review

Author(s):  
Hironori Tsuchiya

Patients infected with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) exhibit a diverse spectrum of clinical manifestations, some of which last for a long time, making a great impact on the healthcare of patients who recovered from coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Although taste disorders have been well-recognized to be closely associated with COVID-19, understanding of gustatory sequelae is relatively poor compared with oral symptoms in the early phase of COVID-19. The aim of this study was to characterize gustatory dysfunction in COVID-19 survivors by a narrative literature review of follow-up studies and to speculate the pathogenic mechanisms underlying such a persistent symptom. Scientific articles were retrieved by searching PubMed, LitCovid, ProQuest, medRxiv and bioRxiv from 1 April 2020 with a cut-off date of 10 September 2021. The follow-up time periods of the relevant 49 studies ranged from 4 weeks to 12 months. Results of the literature search indicated that ageusia, hypogeusia and/or dysgeusia persist in up to 45.0% of COVID-19 survivors and that the prevalence of these taste impairments varies depending on ethnicity, age, gender and disease severity of patients. Gustatory dysfunction can be detected at high frequency even one year after symptom onset. Persistence of gustatory dysfunction is pathogenically related to expression of SARS-CoV-2 cellular entry-relevant receptors in taste cells and neural cells, decreased saliva secretion, zinc deficiency, disturbed nervous system and inflammation associated with persistent SARS-CoV-2 infection. Given the long-term persistence of gustatory dysfunction in COVID-19 survivors, their discharge from hospital is not the end of disease. Careful attention should be continuously paid to taste perception of post-COVID-19 patients to recover the health-relating quality of life, which is required for health providers, especially dental professionals who not only may experience COVID-19 survivors but also can easily become aware of their taste abnormalities.

2020 ◽  
Vol 40 (7) ◽  
pp. 902-911 ◽  
Author(s):  
Malihe Nourollahpour Shiadeh ◽  
Elena Cassinerio ◽  
Maryam Modarres ◽  
Armin Zareiyan ◽  
Zeinab Hamzehgardeshi ◽  
...  

Author(s):  
Mar Muñoz-Chápuli Gutiérrez ◽  
Ana Durán-Vila ◽  
Javier Ruiz-Labarta ◽  
Pilar Payá-Martínez ◽  
Pilar Pintado Recarte ◽  
...  

Spain was one of the epicenters of the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. We describe in this article the design and results of a new telephone-and-telematic multiplatform model of systematic prenatal and postpartum follow-up for COVID-19-affected women implemented in a tertiary reference hospital in Madrid. We included patients with RT-PCR-confirmed COVID-19 during pregnancy or delivery from 10 March 2020 to 15 December 2020. We had a total of 211 obstetric patients: 148 (70.1%) were tested at the onset of suspicious clinical manifestations and 62 (29.4%) were tested in the context of routine screening. Of all the patients, 60 women (28.4%) were asymptomatic and 97 (46%) presented mild symptoms. Fifty-one women (24.2%) were admitted to our hospital for specific treatment because of moderate or severe symptoms. We had no missed cases and a good adherence. The mean number of calls per patient was 2.3. We performed 55 in-person visits. We analyzed the complexity of our program over time, showing a two-wave-like pattern. One patient was identified as needing hospitalization and we did not record major morbidity. Telemedicine programs are a strong and reproducible tool to reach to pregnant population affected by COVID-19, to assess its symptoms and severity, and to record for pregnancy-related symptoms both in an outpatient regime and after discharge from hospital.


Societies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 70
Author(s):  
Costas S. Constantinou ◽  
Andrew Timothy Ng ◽  
Chase Beverley Becker ◽  
Parmida Enayati Zadeh ◽  
Alexia Papageorgiou

This paper presents the results of a narrative literature review on the use of interpreters in medical education. A careful search strategy was based on keywords and inclusion and exclusion criteria, and used the databases PubMed, Medline Ovid, Google Scholar, Scopus, CINAHL, and EBSCO. The search strategy resulted in 20 articles, which reflected the research aim and were reviewed on the basis of an interpretive approach. They were then critically appraised in accordance with the “critical assessment skills programme” guidelines. Results showed that the use of interpreters in medical education as part of the curriculum is scarce, but students have been trained in how to work with interpreters when interviewing patients to fully develop their skills. The study highlights the importance of integrating the use of interpreters in medical curricula, proposes a framework for achieving this, and suggests pertinent research questions for enriching cultural competence.


Author(s):  
Sahar Mihandoust ◽  
Rutali Joshi ◽  
Anjali Joseph ◽  
Kapil Chalil Madathil ◽  
Cheryl J. Dye ◽  
...  

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
pp. 238212052110187
Author(s):  
Marco Grech

Background: Burnout among postgraduate medical trainees is common. It is a syndrome characterised by emotional exhaustion, depersonalisation and reduced personal accomplishment. Burnout is seen as an organisational problem rather than the result of an individual’s ability to cope with the stress at work. The educational environment can play a pivotal role in the prevention of burnout among postgraduate medical trainees. This narrative literature review is aimed at assessing the effect of the educational environment on burnout in postgraduate doctors-in-training. Methods: A search of the databases Medline and PscyInfo for articles published between 2015 and 2020 was performed with the key words ‘burnout’ and ‘educational environment’ or ‘clinical learning environment’ or ‘postgraduate medical education’ or ‘learning environment’. Results: A total of 27 studies were identified and reviewed by the author. The prevalence of burnout reported varied widely between studies, ranging from 10% to 62%. Many of the factors that contribute to burnout form part of the educational environment, for example, hours worked, mistreatment, harassment and perceptions of injustice. Residency itself is a stressful period wherein trainees have to balance their responsibilities towards their patients with their responsibilities at home, all while furthering their studies and taking on new responsibilities. Interventions to prevent burnout and tackle existing burnout are multiple but very little solid evidence exists to attest to their efficacy. More research is needed to identify the most effective ways to deal with burnout in postgraduate medical trainees.


Heliyon ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. e06626
Author(s):  
Paulina Cecula ◽  
Jiakun Yu ◽  
Fatema Mustansir Dawoodbhoy ◽  
Jack Delaney ◽  
Joseph Tan ◽  
...  

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