sharon sanders
Editor-in-Chief & President
- Jun Kim [SUP]g[/SUP]
- Seogsong Jeong [SUP]g[/SUP]
- Kyuwoong Kim
- Joon Don Lee
- Yun Hwan Oh
- Michelle J. Suh
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Findings
A total of 6,716,879 young adults were eligible for the analyses. During 40,260,757 person-months (PMs) of follow–up, 38,269 cases of HL and 5908 cases of SSNHL were identified. The risk of HL (incidence: 11.9 versus 3.4/10,000 PMs; SHR, 3.51; 95% CI, 3.39–3.63; aSHR, 3.44; 95% CI, 3.33–3.56; P < 0.0001) and SSNHL (incidence: 1.8 versus 0.5/10,000 PMs; SHR, 3.58; 95% CI, 3.29–3.90; aSHR, 3.52; 95% CI, 3.23–3.83; P < 0.0001) was higher in COVID-19 group as compared to no COVID-19 group. In the sensitivity analyses that evaluated HL and SSNHL risks after adopting multiple imputations, utilizing inverse probability of treatment weighting, limiting study population to the cohort with a health screening examination, the results were consistent to the primary analysis. Interpretation
Our findings suggest a heightened risk of HL and SSNHL following COVID-19 in young adults. Due to study limitations, including the lack of objective audiological data, issues with generalizability to other populations, and the retrospective design, careful interpretation is necessary. Further studies with objective audiological data and a longer follow-up period are warranted.
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/eclinm/article/PIIS2589-5370(24)00338-9/fulltext