@ARTICLE{Ghalehbaghi, author = {Bagheri, Seyed Hamidreza and Asghari, Alimohamad and Farhadi, Mohammad and Shamshiri, Ahmad Reza and Kabir, Ali and Kamrava, Seyed Kamran and Jalessi, Maryam and Mohebbi, Alireza and Alizadeh, Rafieh and Honarmand, Ali Asghar and Ghalehbaghi, Babak and Salimi, Alireza and Dehghani Firouzabadi, Fatemeh and }, title = {Coincidence of COVID-19 epidemic and olfactory dysfunction outbreak in Iran}, volume = {34}, number = {1}, abstract ={Background: The occurrence of anosmia/hyposmia during novel Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) may indicate a relationship between coincidence of olfactory dysfunction and coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). This study aimed to assess the frequency of self-reported anosmia/hyposmia during COVID-19 epidemic in Iran. Methods: This population-based cross sectional study was performed through an online questionnaire from March 12 to 17, 2020. Cases from all provinces of Iran voluntarily participated in this study. Patients completed a 33-item patient-reported online questionnaire, including smell and taste dysfunction and their comorbidities, along with their basic characteristics and past medical histories. The inclusion criteria were self-reported anosmia/hyposmia during the past 4 weeks, from the start of COVID-19 epidemic in Iran. Results: A total of 10 069 participants aged 32.5±8.6 (7-78) years took part in this study, of them 71.13% women and 81.68% nonsmokers completed the online questionnaire. The correlation between the number of olfactory disorders and reported COVID-19 patients in all provinces up to March 17, 2020 was highly significant (Spearman correlation coefficient = 0.87, P< 0.001). A sudden onset of olfactory dysfunction was reported in 76.24% of the participations and persistent anosmia in 60.90% from the start of COVID-19 epidemic. In addition, 80.38% of participants reported concomitant olfactory and gustatory dysfunctions. Conclusion: An outbreak of olfactory dysfunction occurred in Iran during the COVID-19 epidemic. The exact mechanisms by which anosmia/hyposmia occurred in patients with COVID-19 call for further investigations. }, URL = {http://mjiri.iums.ac.ir/article-1-6711-en.html}, eprint = {http://mjiri.iums.ac.ir/article-1-6711-en.pdf}, journal = {Medical Journal of the Islamic Republic Of Iran}, doi = {10.47176/mjiri.34.62}, year = {2020} }