Anosmia Rehabilitation in Patients Post Coronavirus Disease (COVID 19)

London Health Sciences Centre Research Institute OR Lawson Research Institute of St. Joseph's

Overview

The study will be a randomized controlled trial, involving patients with hyposmia/anosmia of onset immediately after an upper respiratory viral illness, assigned to three distinct study arms. Nasal irrigations will be prescribed to all three groups (BID). In addition, one arm will receive a paper hand-out about post-viral anosmia with instructions to smell common household items (current care) and act as a control group. The second group will receive an essential oil retraining kit, whereas the third group will receive the same olfactory training kit and a prescription to use budesonide with the nasal irrigations. Olfactory scores will be tested at the enrollment, 3 months and at 6 months.

Study Type

INTERVENTIONAL

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

NONE

Conditions

Olfactory Disorder

Interventions

Olfactory retrainingOTHER

Olfactory retraining Olfactory training is performed by exposing patients twice daily to essential oils with four specific odors, present in glass jars with soaked cotton pads: phenyl ethyl alcohol, rose; eucalyptol, eucalyptus; citronellal, lemon; eugenol, cloves.

corticosteroid nasal irrigationDRUG

Nasal irrigation with corticosteroid (budesonide) consists of 240-mL nasal irrigation with Pulmicort Respules (0.5mg) across both nose sides via NeilMed Sinus Rinse bottle (Santa Rosa, California, USA).

smell household ItemsOTHER

Participants will receive a paper hand-out about post-viral anosmia with instructions to smell common household items

Eligibility

Sex: ALLMin age: 18 Years

Medical Language ↔ Plain English

Inclusion Criteria: * Adults 18 years of age or older * Hyposmia/anosmia of onset immediately after an upper respiratory viral illness confirmed on Snap n' Sniff threshold testing, * Capable, in the opinion of the primary investigator, of providing informed consent to participate in the study. Participants are required to sign an informed consent form indicating they understand the purpose and nature of the study, and that they are willing to participate. Exclusion Criteria: * active cigarette smoker * chronic rhinosinusitis * head trauma with loss of consciousness * inability to read/understand English * previous hyposmia/anosmia complaint * pregnancy * previous sinus * skull base or brain surgery * current participation in another clinical trial at the time of initial visit

Locations (1)

St. Joseph's Health Care

London, Ontario, Canada

Outcomes

Primary Outcomes

Change from Baseline Snap and Sniff Threshold Test at 3 months

Score from the Snap and Sniff Olfactory Test results

Time frame: 3 months

Change from baseline Smell Identification Test (SIT) at 3 months

Score from the Smell Identification test results.

Time frame: 3 months

Change from Baseline Snap and Sniff Threshold Test at 6 months

Score from the Snap and Sniff Olfactory Test results

Time frame: 6 months

Change from baseline Smell Identification Test (SIT) at 6 months

Score from the Smell Identification test results.

Time frame: 6 months

Secondary Outcomes

Change from baseline QOD-NS at 3 months

Scores from the short version of the Questionnaire of Olfactory Disorders Negative Statements (QOD-NS)

Time frame: 3 months

Change from baseline SF-36 health survey at 3 months

Short Form 36 Health Survey scores

Time frame: 3 months

Change from baseline QOD-NS at 6 months

Scores from the short version of the Questionnaire of Olfactory Disorders Negative Statements (QOD-NS)

Time frame: 6 months

Change from baseline SF-36 health survey at 6 months

Short Form 36 Health Survey scores

Time frame: 6 months

Data from ClinicalTrials.gov

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