Viewpoint: Epidemiological observation from a smartphone self-assessment web-application for suspected COVID-19 patients’ triage: association of anosmia and outbreak extension in France.

EN BREF ...

"We developed a self-assessment web-application for COVID-19 which was launched in France in March 2020. Users were asked questions about underlying conditions, sociodemographic status, Zip code and main COVID-19 symptoms. Depending on symptoms reported and the co-existing disorders, users were offered either to stay at home, or to contact a general practitioner or an emergency phone number. As of March 29, 2020, the application was opened 4 176 314 times, 3 485 218 e-questionnaires were filled, and 2 304 742 users had at least one symptom. 33.9% of patients reported no symptoms. The remaining patients were offered self-monitoring (22.9%), GP visit or teleconsultation (27.7%), and emergency call (15.6%). Anosmia was associated with emergency warning signs in 39.0% versus and 22.9% of patients without anosmia. Anosmia, and fever and/or cough were correlated with hospitalizations for Covid-19 (Spearman correlation coefficients = 0.87 and 0.82, respectively; p<0.0001 for both). This study suggests that anosmia may be strongly associated with COVID-19 and its severity. Self-checking application data could be a relevant tool to follow outbreak dynamic." En bref issu de l'étude.