Abstract
COVID-19 and sequelae thereof are known to cause chemosensory dysfunction, posing a risk for intake and adequate nutrition for recovery. The overall objective of this study was to investigate the subjective strategies for maintaining appetite applied by patients recovering from COVID-19. The study included 19 in-depth interviews, focusing on patients suffering from long-term effects of COVID-19. The results were analysed using a thematic analysis for qualitative data. Results on strategies for maintaining appetite included four key themes: (1) a focus on well-functioning senses, (2) a focus on familiar foods, (3) a focus on the eating environment, and (4) a focus on post-ingestive well-being. It was found that factors prior to, during and after food intake, as well as the context, could influence desire to eat and pleasure related to food intake. As ageusia and anosmia make characterization of food difficult, being able to recognize and memorize its flavour was important to engage in consumption. Under normal circumstances, the hedonic value of food relies predominantly on the flavour of foods. When suffering from chemosensory dysfunction, shifting focus towards the texture of food, including trigeminal stimulation during consumption, were beneficial for maintaining appetite and food-related pleasure. Furthermore, a focus on the holistic satisfying feelings of choosing healthy food, as well as a focus on other people’s enjoyment during meals were reported to boost well-being around food intake. The study elaborated our understanding of the complex consequences of COVID-19, and can be applied in health promoting initiatives targeted patients recovering from COVID-19.
Highlights
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), referred to as ‘coronavirus disease’ (COVID-19), has spread rapidly all around the world
The results are divided into two sections; the first section describes the general subjective experiences of the effects of COVID-19 on appetite, sensory perception of taste, flavour and smell, and food-related pleasure, and the second section describes the subjective strategies applied by the participants to maintain their appetite and food-related pleasure
The latter section is based on the main themes that arose from the thematic analysis to maintain appetite: (1) focus on well-functioning senses, (2) focus on familiarity, (3) focus on well-being, and (4) focus on eating environment
Summary
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), referred to as ‘coronavirus disease’ (COVID-19), has spread rapidly all around the world. The long-term effects of COVID-19 vary from patient to patient, but often include chemosensory dysfunction in terms of dysosmia and dysgeusia [2]. Dysosmia is a condition affecting smell perception, and can be broadened out to the conditions; ‘anosmia’, which is a complete loss of the ability to detect odours, ‘parosmia’, which alters the odour perception, often to displeasing odours, ‘hyposmia’, which is decreased ability to detect odours, and ‘phantosmia’, which concerns spontaneously occurring odours without any triggers [3]. Dysgeusia is a condition concerning alterations of the perception of basic taste This condition can be broadened out to; ‘ageusia’, which is a total loss of the ability to taste and ‘parageusia’, which alters the taste perception, often to displeasing tastes, and can be triggered by any or specific tastes [3]
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