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1. Shard Calculation

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Response:

Calculated Shard: 121 (from laksa167)

2. Crawled Status Check

Query:

curl -X POST \
  'http://laksa121.int.ahrefs:8124/' \
  -H 'Content-Type: text/plain' \
  -H 'X-ClickHouse-Database: crawler3' \
  -H 'Authorization: Basic YXBpOg==' \
  -d 'SELECT getAhrefsURLFromUnparsed(src_unparsed) AS found_url, ifNull(toUnixTimestamp(download_stamp), 0) AS crawl_time, ifNull(toUnixTimestamp(props_url_first_seen), 0) AS first_indexed_time, download_http_code AS http_code, src_unparsed AS src_unparsed, src_root_hash AS src_root_hash, history_drop_reason AS history_drop_reason, meta_title AS meta_title, meta_descriptions AS meta_descriptions, attrs_boilerpipe_text AS attrs_boilerpipe_text, attrs_markdown AS attrs_markdown, attrs_readable_markdown AS attrs_readable_markdown, meta_canonical AS meta_canonical FROM crawler3.page_info_local FINAL PREWHERE (src_root_hash, src_unparsed) IN ((getAhrefsRootHashFromUnparsed(getAhrefsUnparsedNoserviceFromURL(\'https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-03-broad-sensory-impairments-covid.html\')), getAhrefsUnparsedNoserviceFromURL(\'https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-03-broad-sensory-impairments-covid.html\'))) FORMAT JSONEachRow'

Response:

{"found_url":"https:\/\/medicalxpress.com\/news\/2026-03-broad-sensory-impairments-covid.html","crawl_time":1775595610,"first_indexed_time":1772724208,"http_code":200,"src_unparsed":"com,medicalxpress!\/news\/2026-03-broad-sensory-impairments-covid.html s443","src_root_hash":"13015002168574137721","history_drop_reason":null,"meta_title":"New findings provide objective look at broad sensory impairments among long COVID sufferers","meta_descriptions":["New research from The Ohio State University College of Medicine is the first to objectively measure multisensory losses in COVID-19 patients. \"Our goal is to understand why some long COVID patients experience different profiles of sensory losses while others do not,\" said Kai Zhao, Ph.D., professor in the Department of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery. \"We believe this knowledge will help us improve the care for long COVID patients.\""],"attrs_boilerpipe_text":"Credit: Unsplash\/CC0 Public Domain\nNew research from The Ohio State University College of Medicine is the first to objectively measure multisensory losses in COVID-19 patients. \"Our goal is to understand why some long COVID patients experience different profiles of sensory losses while others do not,\" said Kai Zhao, Ph.D., professor in the Department of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery. \"We believe this knowledge will help us improve the care for long COVID patients.\"\nThe study,\npublished\nin the journal\nBMC Medicine\n, follows long COVID patients with self-reported complaints in at least one area: smell, taste, balance\/dizziness, hearing and brain fog.\nSixty patients ages 27–78 who had COVID between January 1, 2020–December 21, 2023, and had persistent symptoms for four to 50 months participated in the study. Researchers put them through\nstandardized objective assessments\nfor smell, taste, hearing, vestibular, balance\/dizziness and brain fog\/cognitive.\nMost of these patients had mild COVID-19 cases. Only eight patients were hospitalized, with two needing breathing tubes.\nPatients with smell, taste, hearing, balance issues, neurologic conditions and severe health problems unrelated to COVID-19, history of severe head trauma or traumatic brain injury, and pregnancy were excluded.\nPatients in the study self-reported high and overlapping issues: 67.3% smell, 63.6% taste, 56.6% balance and dizziness, 31.8% hearing and 51.3% brain fog\/cognitive issues.\nThe objective assessments confirmed: 65.5% smell, 16% taste, 31.6% balance and dizziness, 53.4% hearing and 19.1% brain fog\/cognitive issues.\n\"Our research found strong associations between confirmed\nbalance\/dizziness\nand hearing impairments, likely due to the shared inner ear structure of the auditory and vestibular systems, as well as among brain fog, balance and hearing impairments, implicating likely involvement of the central nervous system,\" Zhao said. \"Strong associations were also found between patients with smell and taste issues, in particular those tasks require more cognitive involvement, e.g., recognizing a flavor or odor.\"\nThe study found that COVID-19 impacts the sensory systems broadly and differently. This is driven by patient age, initial disease severity as well as cognitive functions.\nIn the eight patients who were\nhospitalized\nduring their COVID-19 infection, all had confirmed smell dysfunction, seven had confirmed balance dysfunction, six had hearing loss and four had cognitive dysfunction. \"This sheds light on the impact of initial disease severity on broad sensory dysfunctions,\" Zhao said.\nIt's unclear how multisensory dysfunctions manifest among long COVID patients or how long-term versus short-term phases differ.\nAccording to the World Health Organization, the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in 775 million cases and more than 7 million deaths worldwide. Most COVID-19 patients have symptoms similar to the common cold or flu. Others report neurological symptoms including sensory loss after the initial infection.\nFuture research\nwill longitudinally follow these long COVID patients—both objectively and subjectively—to further help to answer how these symptoms may improve differentially over time, and to provide better prognosis predictions.\nPublication details\nAhmad Odeh et al, Objective assessment of long-term impact of COVID-19 on multiple sensory functions,\nBMC Medicine\n(2026).\nDOI: 10.1186\/s12916-026-04726-x\nJournal information:\nBMC Medicine\nCitation\n:\n                                                 New findings provide objective look at broad sensory impairments among long COVID sufferers (2026, March 5)\n                                                 retrieved 7 April 2026\n                                                 from https:\/\/medicalxpress.com\/news\/2026-03-broad-sensory-impairments-covid.html\nThis document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no\n                                            part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only.","attrs_markdown":"[![logotype](https:\/\/medx.b-cdn.net\/tmpl\/v6\/img\/logo.png)](https:\/\/medicalxpress.com\/)\n\nSpecialities\n\nWell-being\n\nConditions\n\n- [Week's top](https:\/\/medicalxpress.com\/weekly-news\/)\n- [Latest news](https:\/\/medicalxpress.com\/latest-news\/)\n- [Unread news](https:\/\/medicalxpress.com\/unread-news\/)\n- [Subscribe](https:\/\/medicalxpress.com\/news\/2026-03-broad-sensory-impairments-covid.html)\n### Science X Account\n\n- [Allergy and immunology](https:\/\/medicalxpress.com\/immunology-news\/)\n- [Anesthesiology](https:\/\/medicalxpress.com\/anesthesiology-news\/)\n- [Cardiology](https:\/\/medicalxpress.com\/cardiology-news\/)\n- [Clinical genetics](https:\/\/medicalxpress.com\/genetics-news\/)\n- [Critical care medicine](https:\/\/medicalxpress.com\/critical-care-medicine-news\/)\n- [Dermatology](https:\/\/medicalxpress.com\/dermatology-news\/)\n- [Diagnostic 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Syndrome](https:\/\/medicalxpress.com\/mesh\/nervous-system-diseases\/brain-diseases\/basal-ganglia-diseases\/tourette-syndrome\/)\n- [Valley Fever](https:\/\/medicalxpress.com\/mesh\/infections\/bacterial-infections-mycoses\/mycoses\/coccidioidomycosis\/)\n- [Vertigo](https:\/\/medicalxpress.com\/mesh\/otorhinolaryngologic-diseases\/ear-diseases\/labyrinth-diseases\/vestibular-diseases\/vertigo\/)\n- [Vitiligo](https:\/\/medicalxpress.com\/mesh\/skin-connective-tissue-diseases\/skin-diseases\/pigmentation-disorders\/hypopigmentation\/vitiligo\/)\n- [Wounds, Gunshot](https:\/\/medicalxpress.com\/mesh\/wounds-injuries\/wounds-gunshot\/)\n- [Browse all »](https:\/\/medicalxpress.com\/concepts\/)\n\n- share this\\!\n- [Share]()\n- [Tweet](https:\/\/medicalxpress.com\/news\/2026-03-broad-sensory-impairments-covid.html)\n- [Share](https:\/\/medicalxpress.com\/news\/2026-03-broad-sensory-impairments-covid.html)\n- [Email](mailto:)\n\nMarch 5, 2026\n***\n# New findings provide objective look at broad sensory impairments among long COVID sufferers\nby [The Ohio State University](http:\/\/www.osu.edu\/)\n\nedited by [Lisa Lock](https:\/\/sciencex.com\/help\/editorial-team\/), reviewed by [Andrew Zinin](https:\/\/sciencex.com\/help\/editorial-team\/)\n\n[Editors' notes]()\n\nThis article has been reviewed according to Science X's [editorial process](https:\/\/sciencex.com\/help\/editorial-process\/) and [policies](https:\/\/sciencex.com\/help\/editorial-standards\/). [Editors](https:\/\/sciencex.com\/help\/editorial-team\/) have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility:\n\nfact-checked\n\npeer-reviewed publication\n\ntrusted source\n\nproofread\n\n[The GIST]()\n\n[Add as preferred source](https:\/\/google.com\/preferences\/source?q=https%3A%2F%2Fmedicalxpress.com%2F)\n***\n\n![COVID](https:\/\/scx1.b-cdn.net\/csz\/news\/800a\/2024\/covid-2.jpg)\n\nCredit: Unsplash\/CC0 Public Domain\n\nNew research from The Ohio State University College of Medicine is the first to objectively measure multisensory losses in COVID-19 patients. \"Our goal is to understand why some long COVID patients experience different profiles of sensory losses while others do not,\" said Kai Zhao, Ph.D., professor in the Department of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery. \"We believe this knowledge will help us improve the care for long COVID patients.\"\n\nThe study, [published](https:\/\/link.springer.com\/10.1186\/s12916-026-04726-x) in the journal *BMC Medicine*, follows long COVID patients with self-reported complaints in at least one area: smell, taste, balance\/dizziness, hearing and brain fog.\n\nSixty patients ages 27–78 who had COVID between January 1, 2020–December 21, 2023, and had persistent symptoms for four to 50 months participated in the study. Researchers put them through [standardized objective assessments](https:\/\/medicalxpress.com\/news\/2023-04-covid-loss-linked-brain.html?utm_source=embeddings&utm_medium=related&utm_campaign=internal) for smell, taste, hearing, vestibular, balance\/dizziness and brain fog\/cognitive.\n\nMost of these patients had mild COVID-19 cases. Only eight patients were hospitalized, with two needing breathing tubes.\n\nPatients with smell, taste, hearing, balance issues, neurologic conditions and severe health problems unrelated to COVID-19, history of severe head trauma or traumatic brain injury, and pregnancy were excluded.\n\nPatients in the study self-reported high and overlapping issues: 67.3% smell, 63.6% taste, 56.6% balance and dizziness, 31.8% hearing and 51.3% brain fog\/cognitive issues.\n\nThe objective assessments confirmed: 65.5% smell, 16% taste, 31.6% balance and dizziness, 53.4% hearing and 19.1% brain fog\/cognitive issues.\n\n\"Our research found strong associations between confirmed [balance\/dizziness](https:\/\/medicalxpress.com\/news\/2025-01-vr-subway-highlights-role-disrupting.html?utm_source=embeddings&utm_medium=related&utm_campaign=internal) and hearing impairments, likely due to the shared inner ear structure of the auditory and vestibular systems, as well as among brain fog, balance and hearing impairments, implicating likely involvement of the central nervous system,\" Zhao said. \"Strong associations were also found between patients with smell and taste issues, in particular those tasks require more cognitive involvement, e.g., recognizing a flavor or odor.\"\n\nThe study found that COVID-19 impacts the sensory systems broadly and differently. This is driven by patient age, initial disease severity as well as cognitive functions.\n\nIn the eight patients who were [hospitalized](https:\/\/medicalxpress.com\/news\/2022-09-significant-sensory-loss-covid.html?utm_source=embeddings&utm_medium=related&utm_campaign=internal) during their COVID-19 infection, all had confirmed smell dysfunction, seven had confirmed balance dysfunction, six had hearing loss and four had cognitive dysfunction. \"This sheds light on the impact of initial disease severity on broad sensory dysfunctions,\" Zhao said.\n\nIt's unclear how multisensory dysfunctions manifest among long COVID patients or how long-term versus short-term phases differ.\n\nAccording to the World Health Organization, the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in 775 million cases and more than 7 million deaths worldwide. Most COVID-19 patients have symptoms similar to the common cold or flu. Others report neurological symptoms including sensory loss after the initial infection.\n\n[Future research](https:\/\/medicalxpress.com\/news\/2023-02-covid.html?utm_source=embeddings&utm_medium=related&utm_campaign=internal) will longitudinally follow these long COVID patients—both objectively and subjectively—to further help to answer how these symptoms may improve differentially over time, and to provide better prognosis predictions.\n\n###### Publication details\nAhmad Odeh et al, Objective assessment of long-term impact of COVID-19 on multiple sensory functions, *BMC Medicine* (2026). [DOI: 10.1186\/s12916-026-04726-x](https:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1186\/s12916-026-04726-x)\n\n**Journal information:** [BMC Medicine](https:\/\/medicalxpress.com\/journals\/bmc-medicine\/)\n\n###### Key medical concepts\n[**Post-Acute COVID-19 Syndrome**](https:\/\/medicalxpress.com\/concepts\/disease-syndrome\/post-acute-covid-19-syndrome\/)[**Cognitive Dysfunction**](https:\/\/medicalxpress.com\/concepts\/mental-behavioral-dysfunction\/cognitive-dysfunction\/)[**Hearing Loss**](https:\/\/medicalxpress.com\/concepts\/disease-syndrome\/hearing-loss\/)\n\n###### Clinical categories\n[**Neurology**](https:\/\/medicalxpress.com\/neurology-news\/)[**Infectious diseases**](https:\/\/medicalxpress.com\/infectious-diseases-news\/)[**Common illnesses & Prevention**](https:\/\/medicalxpress.com\/common-illnesses-prevention-news\/)\n\nProvided by [The Ohio State University](https:\/\/medicalxpress.com\/partners\/the-ohio-state-university\/)\n\n**Citation**: New findings provide objective look at broad sensory impairments among long COVID sufferers (2026, March 5) retrieved 7 April 2026 from https:\/\/medicalxpress.com\/news\/2026-03-broad-sensory-impairments-covid.html\n\nThis document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no part may be reproduced without the written permission. 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Strong associations exist between balance, hearing, and cognitive issues, suggesting involvement of both inner ear and central nervous system structures. Severity of initial infection and age influence impairment profiles.\n\nThis summary was automatically generated using LLM. [Full disclaimer](https:\/\/sciencex.com\/help\/ai-disclaimer\/)\n##### Let us know if there is a problem with our content\n###### E-mail the story\n##### New findings provide objective look at broad sensory impairments among long COVID sufferers\n\n#### Donate and enjoy an ad-free experience\nWe keep our content available to everyone. Consider supporting Science X's mission by getting a premium account.\n\n[Remove ads](https:\/\/sciencex.com\/donate\/?utm_source=medx&utm_medium=desktop&utm_campaign=popup)\n\n[Maybe later](https:\/\/medicalxpress.com\/news\/2026-03-broad-sensory-impairments-covid.html)\n\n[![Phys.org](https:\/\/medx.b-cdn.net\/tmpl\/v6\/img\/Physorg.svg) Phys.org Daily science news on research developments and the latest scientific innovations](https:\/\/phys.org\/)\n\n[![Tech Xplore](https:\/\/medx.b-cdn.net\/tmpl\/v6\/img\/TechXplore.png) Tech Xplore The latest engineering, electronics and technology advances](https:\/\/techxplore.com\/)\n\n[![ScienceX](https:\/\/medx.b-cdn.net\/tmpl\/v6\/img\/ScienceX.svg) Science X The most comprehensive sci-tech news coverage on the web](https:\/\/sciencex.com\/)\n\n## Newsletters\n## Follow us\n\n- [Top](https:\/\/medicalxpress.com\/news\/2026-03-broad-sensory-impairments-covid.html)\n- [Home](https:\/\/medicalxpress.com\/)\n- [Search](https:\/\/medicalxpress.com\/search\/)\n- [Mobile version](https:\/\/medicalxpress.com\/news\/2026-03-broad-sensory-impairments-covid.html?deviceType=mobile)\n\n- [Help](https:\/\/sciencex.com\/help\/)\n- [FAQ](https:\/\/sciencex.com\/help\/contactus\/)\n- [About](https:\/\/sciencex.com\/help\/about-us\/)\n- [Contact](https:\/\/sciencex.com\/help\/feedback\/)\n\n- [Support us](https:\/\/sciencex.com\/help\/donate\/)\n- [Science X Account](https:\/\/sciencex.com\/profile\/)\n- [Newsletter](https:\/\/sciencex.com\/help\/newsletter\/)\n- [Archive](https:\/\/medicalxpress.com\/archive\/)\n\n- [Android app](https:\/\/play.google.com\/store\/apps\/details?id=com.PhysOrg.healthFree)\n- [iOS app](https:\/\/itunes.apple.com\/us\/app\/medical-xpress\/id412403837?mt=8)\n- [RSS feeds](https:\/\/medicalxpress.com\/feeds\/)\n- [Push notification]()\n\n© Medical Xpress 2011 - 2026 powered by [Science X Network](https:\/\/sciencex.com\/)\n\n[Privacy policy](https:\/\/sciencex.com\/help\/privacy\/) [Terms of use](https:\/\/sciencex.com\/help\/terms\/) [Medical Disclaimer](https:\/\/sciencex.com\/help\/disclaimer\/)\n\n#### E-mail newsletter\n#### Follow us\n\n![Quantcast](https:\/\/pixel.quantserve.com\/pixel?a.1=p-522H9WlBHUNiI.gif&?a.2=p-5dNhPAnM9r0yY)","attrs_readable_markdown":"![COVID](https:\/\/scx1.b-cdn.net\/csz\/news\/800a\/2024\/covid-2.jpg)\n\nCredit: Unsplash\/CC0 Public Domain\n\nNew research from The Ohio State University College of Medicine is the first to objectively measure multisensory losses in COVID-19 patients. \"Our goal is to understand why some long COVID patients experience different profiles of sensory losses while others do not,\" said Kai Zhao, Ph.D., professor in the Department of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery. \"We believe this knowledge will help us improve the care for long COVID patients.\"\n\nThe study, [published](https:\/\/link.springer.com\/10.1186\/s12916-026-04726-x) in the journal *BMC Medicine*, follows long COVID patients with self-reported complaints in at least one area: smell, taste, balance\/dizziness, hearing and brain fog.\n\nSixty patients ages 27–78 who had COVID between January 1, 2020–December 21, 2023, and had persistent symptoms for four to 50 months participated in the study. Researchers put them through [standardized objective assessments](https:\/\/medicalxpress.com\/news\/2023-04-covid-loss-linked-brain.html?utm_source=embeddings&utm_medium=related&utm_campaign=internal) for smell, taste, hearing, vestibular, balance\/dizziness and brain fog\/cognitive.\n\nMost of these patients had mild COVID-19 cases. Only eight patients were hospitalized, with two needing breathing tubes.\n\nPatients with smell, taste, hearing, balance issues, neurologic conditions and severe health problems unrelated to COVID-19, history of severe head trauma or traumatic brain injury, and pregnancy were excluded.\n\nPatients in the study self-reported high and overlapping issues: 67.3% smell, 63.6% taste, 56.6% balance and dizziness, 31.8% hearing and 51.3% brain fog\/cognitive issues.\n\nThe objective assessments confirmed: 65.5% smell, 16% taste, 31.6% balance and dizziness, 53.4% hearing and 19.1% brain fog\/cognitive issues.\n\n\"Our research found strong associations between confirmed [balance\/dizziness](https:\/\/medicalxpress.com\/news\/2025-01-vr-subway-highlights-role-disrupting.html?utm_source=embeddings&utm_medium=related&utm_campaign=internal) and hearing impairments, likely due to the shared inner ear structure of the auditory and vestibular systems, as well as among brain fog, balance and hearing impairments, implicating likely involvement of the central nervous system,\" Zhao said. \"Strong associations were also found between patients with smell and taste issues, in particular those tasks require more cognitive involvement, e.g., recognizing a flavor or odor.\"\n\nThe study found that COVID-19 impacts the sensory systems broadly and differently. This is driven by patient age, initial disease severity as well as cognitive functions.\n\nIn the eight patients who were [hospitalized](https:\/\/medicalxpress.com\/news\/2022-09-significant-sensory-loss-covid.html?utm_source=embeddings&utm_medium=related&utm_campaign=internal) during their COVID-19 infection, all had confirmed smell dysfunction, seven had confirmed balance dysfunction, six had hearing loss and four had cognitive dysfunction. \"This sheds light on the impact of initial disease severity on broad sensory dysfunctions,\" Zhao said.\n\nIt's unclear how multisensory dysfunctions manifest among long COVID patients or how long-term versus short-term phases differ.\n\nAccording to the World Health Organization, the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in 775 million cases and more than 7 million deaths worldwide. Most COVID-19 patients have symptoms similar to the common cold or flu. Others report neurological symptoms including sensory loss after the initial infection.\n\n[Future research](https:\/\/medicalxpress.com\/news\/2023-02-covid.html?utm_source=embeddings&utm_medium=related&utm_campaign=internal) will longitudinally follow these long COVID patients—both objectively and subjectively—to further help to answer how these symptoms may improve differentially over time, and to provide better prognosis predictions.\n\n###### Publication details\nAhmad Odeh et al, Objective assessment of long-term impact of COVID-19 on multiple sensory functions, *BMC Medicine* (2026). [DOI: 10.1186\/s12916-026-04726-x](https:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1186\/s12916-026-04726-x)\n\n**Journal information:** [BMC Medicine](https:\/\/medicalxpress.com\/journals\/bmc-medicine\/)\n\n**Citation**: New findings provide objective look at broad sensory impairments among long COVID sufferers (2026, March 5) retrieved 7 April 2026 from https:\/\/medicalxpress.com\/news\/2026-03-broad-sensory-impairments-covid.html\n\nThis document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only.","meta_canonical":null}

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Meta Title	New findings provide objective look at broad sensory impairments among long COVID sufferers
Meta Description	New research from The Ohio State University College of Medicine is the first to objectively measure multisensory losses in COVID-19 patients. "Our goal is to understand why some long COVID patients experience different profiles of sensory losses while others do not," said Kai Zhao, Ph.D., professor in the Department of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery. "We believe this knowledge will help us improve the care for long COVID patients."
Meta Canonical	null
Boilerpipe Text	Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain New research from The Ohio State University College of Medicine is the first to objectively measure multisensory losses in COVID-19 patients. "Our goal is to understand why some long COVID patients experience different profiles of sensory losses while others do not," said Kai Zhao, Ph.D., professor in the Department of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery. "We believe this knowledge will help us improve the care for long COVID patients." The study, published in the journal BMC Medicine , follows long COVID patients with self-reported complaints in at least one area: smell, taste, balance/dizziness, hearing and brain fog. Sixty patients ages 27–78 who had COVID between January 1, 2020–December 21, 2023, and had persistent symptoms for four to 50 months participated in the study. Researchers put them through standardized objective assessments for smell, taste, hearing, vestibular, balance/dizziness and brain fog/cognitive. Most of these patients had mild COVID-19 cases. Only eight patients were hospitalized, with two needing breathing tubes. Patients with smell, taste, hearing, balance issues, neurologic conditions and severe health problems unrelated to COVID-19, history of severe head trauma or traumatic brain injury, and pregnancy were excluded. Patients in the study self-reported high and overlapping issues: 67.3% smell, 63.6% taste, 56.6% balance and dizziness, 31.8% hearing and 51.3% brain fog/cognitive issues. The objective assessments confirmed: 65.5% smell, 16% taste, 31.6% balance and dizziness, 53.4% hearing and 19.1% brain fog/cognitive issues. "Our research found strong associations between confirmed balance/dizziness and hearing impairments, likely due to the shared inner ear structure of the auditory and vestibular systems, as well as among brain fog, balance and hearing impairments, implicating likely involvement of the central nervous system," Zhao said. "Strong associations were also found between patients with smell and taste issues, in particular those tasks require more cognitive involvement, e.g., recognizing a flavor or odor." The study found that COVID-19 impacts the sensory systems broadly and differently. This is driven by patient age, initial disease severity as well as cognitive functions. In the eight patients who were hospitalized during their COVID-19 infection, all had confirmed smell dysfunction, seven had confirmed balance dysfunction, six had hearing loss and four had cognitive dysfunction. "This sheds light on the impact of initial disease severity on broad sensory dysfunctions," Zhao said. It's unclear how multisensory dysfunctions manifest among long COVID patients or how long-term versus short-term phases differ. According to the World Health Organization, the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in 775 million cases and more than 7 million deaths worldwide. Most COVID-19 patients have symptoms similar to the common cold or flu. Others report neurological symptoms including sensory loss after the initial infection. Future research will longitudinally follow these long COVID patients—both objectively and subjectively—to further help to answer how these symptoms may improve differentially over time, and to provide better prognosis predictions. Publication details Ahmad Odeh et al, Objective assessment of long-term impact of COVID-19 on multiple sensory functions, BMC Medicine (2026). DOI: 10.1186/s12916-026-04726-x Journal information: BMC Medicine Citation : New findings provide objective look at broad sensory impairments among long COVID sufferers (2026, March 5) retrieved 7 April 2026 from https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-03-broad-sensory-impairments-covid.html This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only.
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[Editors](https://sciencex.com/help/editorial-team/) have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: fact-checked peer-reviewed publication trusted source proofread [The GIST]() [Add as preferred source](https://google.com/preferences/source?q=https%3A%2F%2Fmedicalxpress.com%2F) * ![COVID](https://scx1.b-cdn.net/csz/news/800a/2024/covid-2.jpg) Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain New research from The Ohio State University College of Medicine is the first to objectively measure multisensory losses in COVID-19 patients. "Our goal is to understand why some long COVID patients experience different profiles of sensory losses while others do not," said Kai Zhao, Ph.D., professor in the Department of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery. "We believe this knowledge will help us improve the care for long COVID patients." The study, [published](https://link.springer.com/10.1186/s12916-026-04726-x) in the journal BMC Medicine, follows long COVID patients with self-reported complaints in at least one area: smell, taste, balance/dizziness, hearing and brain fog. Sixty patients ages 27–78 who had COVID between January 1, 2020–December 21, 2023, and had persistent symptoms for four to 50 months participated in the study. Researchers put them through [standardized objective assessments](https://medicalxpress.com/news/2023-04-covid-loss-linked-brain.html?utm_source=embeddings&utm_medium=related&utm_campaign=internal) for smell, taste, hearing, vestibular, balance/dizziness and brain fog/cognitive. Most of these patients had mild COVID-19 cases. Only eight patients were hospitalized, with two needing breathing tubes. Patients with smell, taste, hearing, balance issues, neurologic conditions and severe health problems unrelated to COVID-19, history of severe head trauma or traumatic brain injury, and pregnancy were excluded. Patients in the study self-reported high and overlapping issues: 67.3% smell, 63.6% taste, 56.6% balance and dizziness, 31.8% hearing and 51.3% brain fog/cognitive issues. The objective assessments confirmed: 65.5% smell, 16% taste, 31.6% balance and dizziness, 53.4% hearing and 19.1% brain fog/cognitive issues. "Our research found strong associations between confirmed [balance/dizziness](https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-01-vr-subway-highlights-role-disrupting.html?utm_source=embeddings&utm_medium=related&utm_campaign=internal) and hearing impairments, likely due to the shared inner ear structure of the auditory and vestibular systems, as well as among brain fog, balance and hearing impairments, implicating likely involvement of the central nervous system," Zhao said. "Strong associations were also found between patients with smell and taste issues, in particular those tasks require more cognitive involvement, e.g., recognizing a flavor or odor." The study found that COVID-19 impacts the sensory systems broadly and differently. This is driven by patient age, initial disease severity as well as cognitive functions. In the eight patients who were [hospitalized](https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-09-significant-sensory-loss-covid.html?utm_source=embeddings&utm_medium=related&utm_campaign=internal) during their COVID-19 infection, all had confirmed smell dysfunction, seven had confirmed balance dysfunction, six had hearing loss and four had cognitive dysfunction. "This sheds light on the impact of initial disease severity on broad sensory dysfunctions," Zhao said. It's unclear how multisensory dysfunctions manifest among long COVID patients or how long-term versus short-term phases differ. According to the World Health Organization, the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in 775 million cases and more than 7 million deaths worldwide. Most COVID-19 patients have symptoms similar to the common cold or flu. Others report neurological symptoms including sensory loss after the initial infection. [Future research](https://medicalxpress.com/news/2023-02-covid.html?utm_source=embeddings&utm_medium=related&utm_campaign=internal) will longitudinally follow these long COVID patients—both objectively and subjectively—to further help to answer how these symptoms may improve differentially over time, and to provide better prognosis predictions. ###### Publication details Ahmad Odeh et al, Objective assessment of long-term impact of COVID-19 on multiple sensory functions, BMC Medicine (2026). [DOI: 10.1186/s12916-026-04726-x](https://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12916-026-04726-x) Journal information: [BMC Medicine](https://medicalxpress.com/journals/bmc-medicine/) ###### Key medical concepts [Post-Acute COVID-19 Syndrome](https://medicalxpress.com/concepts/disease-syndrome/post-acute-covid-19-syndrome/)[Cognitive Dysfunction](https://medicalxpress.com/concepts/mental-behavioral-dysfunction/cognitive-dysfunction/)[Hearing Loss](https://medicalxpress.com/concepts/disease-syndrome/hearing-loss/) ###### Clinical categories [Neurology](https://medicalxpress.com/neurology-news/)[Infectious diseases](https://medicalxpress.com/infectious-diseases-news/)[Common illnesses & Prevention](https://medicalxpress.com/common-illnesses-prevention-news/) Provided by [The Ohio State University](https://medicalxpress.com/partners/the-ohio-state-university/) Citation: New findings provide objective look at broad sensory impairments among long COVID sufferers (2026, March 5) retrieved 7 April 2026 from https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-03-broad-sensory-impairments-covid.html This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only. 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Strong associations exist between balance, hearing, and cognitive issues, suggesting involvement of both inner ear and central nervous system structures. Severity of initial infection and age influence impairment profiles. This summary was automatically generated using LLM. [Full disclaimer](https://sciencex.com/help/ai-disclaimer/) ##### Let us know if there is a problem with our content ###### E-mail the story ##### New findings provide objective look at broad sensory impairments among long COVID sufferers #### Donate and enjoy an ad-free experience We keep our content available to everyone. Consider supporting Science X's mission by getting a premium account. 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Readable Markdown	![COVID](https://scx1.b-cdn.net/csz/news/800a/2024/covid-2.jpg) Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain New research from The Ohio State University College of Medicine is the first to objectively measure multisensory losses in COVID-19 patients. "Our goal is to understand why some long COVID patients experience different profiles of sensory losses while others do not," said Kai Zhao, Ph.D., professor in the Department of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery. "We believe this knowledge will help us improve the care for long COVID patients." The study, [published](https://link.springer.com/10.1186/s12916-026-04726-x) in the journal BMC Medicine, follows long COVID patients with self-reported complaints in at least one area: smell, taste, balance/dizziness, hearing and brain fog. Sixty patients ages 27–78 who had COVID between January 1, 2020–December 21, 2023, and had persistent symptoms for four to 50 months participated in the study. Researchers put them through [standardized objective assessments](https://medicalxpress.com/news/2023-04-covid-loss-linked-brain.html?utm_source=embeddings&utm_medium=related&utm_campaign=internal) for smell, taste, hearing, vestibular, balance/dizziness and brain fog/cognitive. Most of these patients had mild COVID-19 cases. Only eight patients were hospitalized, with two needing breathing tubes. Patients with smell, taste, hearing, balance issues, neurologic conditions and severe health problems unrelated to COVID-19, history of severe head trauma or traumatic brain injury, and pregnancy were excluded. Patients in the study self-reported high and overlapping issues: 67.3% smell, 63.6% taste, 56.6% balance and dizziness, 31.8% hearing and 51.3% brain fog/cognitive issues. The objective assessments confirmed: 65.5% smell, 16% taste, 31.6% balance and dizziness, 53.4% hearing and 19.1% brain fog/cognitive issues. "Our research found strong associations between confirmed [balance/dizziness](https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-01-vr-subway-highlights-role-disrupting.html?utm_source=embeddings&utm_medium=related&utm_campaign=internal) and hearing impairments, likely due to the shared inner ear structure of the auditory and vestibular systems, as well as among brain fog, balance and hearing impairments, implicating likely involvement of the central nervous system," Zhao said. "Strong associations were also found between patients with smell and taste issues, in particular those tasks require more cognitive involvement, e.g., recognizing a flavor or odor." The study found that COVID-19 impacts the sensory systems broadly and differently. This is driven by patient age, initial disease severity as well as cognitive functions. In the eight patients who were [hospitalized](https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-09-significant-sensory-loss-covid.html?utm_source=embeddings&utm_medium=related&utm_campaign=internal) during their COVID-19 infection, all had confirmed smell dysfunction, seven had confirmed balance dysfunction, six had hearing loss and four had cognitive dysfunction. "This sheds light on the impact of initial disease severity on broad sensory dysfunctions," Zhao said. It's unclear how multisensory dysfunctions manifest among long COVID patients or how long-term versus short-term phases differ. According to the World Health Organization, the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in 775 million cases and more than 7 million deaths worldwide. Most COVID-19 patients have symptoms similar to the common cold or flu. Others report neurological symptoms including sensory loss after the initial infection. [Future research](https://medicalxpress.com/news/2023-02-covid.html?utm_source=embeddings&utm_medium=related&utm_campaign=internal) will longitudinally follow these long COVID patients—both objectively and subjectively—to further help to answer how these symptoms may improve differentially over time, and to provide better prognosis predictions. ###### Publication details Ahmad Odeh et al, Objective assessment of long-term impact of COVID-19 on multiple sensory functions, BMC Medicine (2026). [DOI: 10.1186/s12916-026-04726-x](https://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12916-026-04726-x) Journal information: [BMC Medicine](https://medicalxpress.com/journals/bmc-medicine/) Citation: New findings provide objective look at broad sensory impairments among long COVID sufferers (2026, March 5) retrieved 7 April 2026 from https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-03-broad-sensory-impairments-covid.html This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only.
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