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. 2022 Jun 27;15(1):228.
doi: 10.1186/s13104-022-06120-1.

Hearing loss and the COVID-19 pandemic

Yukiko Wagatsuma  1 , Kaori Daimaru  2 , Shiqi Deng  2 , Jou-Yin Chen  2
Affiliations

Hearing loss and the COVID-19 pandemic

Yukiko Wagatsuma et al. BMC Res Notes. .

Abstract

Objective: Hearing loss is an important public health problem. Its causes vary, including infections, noise, and aging. The first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic occurred in April 2020 in Japan. During the pandemic, people were urged to stay at home and drastically changed their lifestyles. This study aimed to examine hearing loss before and during the pandemic. The prevalence during the pandemic after April 2020 was compared for the period in 2019. Study subjects were those who received health checkups in both periods. Hearing loss was defined as a hearing threshold of > 30 dB at 1 kHz and > 40 dB at 4 kHz in either ear using pure-tone audiometry.

Results: A total of 2367 persons presented in both 2019 and 2020. The overall rates of hearing loss were 9.5% and 13.2% before and after the pandemic, respectively. After controlling for age, sex, current smoking, regular exercise and alcohol consumption, the rate of hearing loss showed a significant increase in 2020 (p = < 0.0001). With age stratification, an increase was observed in the participants aged < 40 years (1.3% vs. 3.1%, p < 0.001) and 40-59 years (7.2% vs. 12.6%, p < 0.001). Further studies are needed to confirm the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on hearing loss.

Keywords: COVID-19; Health examination; Hearing loss.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Prevalence of hearing loss in 2019 and 2020, n = 2367. P value was calculated using McNemar's test. Asterisks (*) denote a significant difference (***p < 0.001) in the prevalence of hearing loss in 2020 compared to 2019 by age group.
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