A depressed mood or anxiety in COVID-19 patients could point to the virus' potential impact on the central nervous system. These two psychological symptoms were most closely associated with a loss of smell and taste rather than the more severe indicators of the novel coronavirus such as shortness of breath, cough or fever, according to the study.
“The only element of COVID-19 that was associated with depressed mood and anxiety was the severity of patients’ loss of smell and taste. This is an unexpected and shocking result," says Dr. Ahmad Sedaghat at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine. Dr. Sedaghat conducted a study which examined characteristics and symptoms of 114 patients who were diagnosed with COVID-19 over a six-week period.
Joining Cincinnati Edition to discuss the study is University of Cincinnati College of Medicine Department of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery Associate Professor and Division of Rhinology, Allergy and Anterior Skull Base Surgery Director Ahmad Sedaghat, MD, PhD, FACS.
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