Sudden Hearing Loss Before, During, and After the Pandemic: Investigating COVID-19 Illness and Vaccine-Related Symptoms.

INTRODUCTION: Accumulating reports suggest an increase in sudden sensorineural hearing loss during the COVID-19 pandemic and vaccination periods. However, clear evidence is lacking. The goal of this study was to determine if sudden sensorineural hearing loss is associated with COVID-19 illness or its vaccine. METHODS: Retrospective chart review of fifty randomly selected patients from three, 6-month time periods: "pre-pandemic", "early pandemic", and "late pandemic". Group comparisons were performed for demographics, comorbid conditions, audiologic history, audiometric data, speech reception thresholds, and word recognition. RESULTS: One hundred fifty patients were included in this study. A mean difference was observed in that the relative percentage of sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) cases increased over time, corresponding to a relative decrease in conductive hearing loss cases. However, this change was not explained by proportional changes in sudden SNHL. Patients in the early pandemic time period were more likely to report tinnitus. Otherwise, the patient groups did not differ on demographic variables, hearing health history, hearing loss presentation, pure tone averages, speech reception thresholds, or word recognition performance. CONCLUSIONS: Proportion of patients with sudden sensorineural hearing loss did not change over time from the pre-pandemic period to the early or late pandemic phases. Despite a randomized sample, these findings do not support the hypothesis that COVID-19 illness or vaccine is associated with sudden sensorineural hearing loss.

Quality of Life With Cochlear Implantation Using the CIQOL-35 at a Tertiary Urban Medical Center: Our Experience.

OBJECTIVE: Assessment of quality-of-life (QOL) outcomes after cochlear implantation (CI) using the Cochlear Implant Quality of Life-35 questionnaire (CIQOL-35). STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective cohort. SETTING: Single-institution tertiary care center. PATIENTS: Patients 18 years and older who have undergone CI and CIQOL-35 survey. INTERVENTIONS: Implementing CIQOL-35 from 2019 to 2022 to measure change in QOL after CI. Statistical analysis included nonparametric, univariate, and multivariate analyses. Significance was set at 0.05. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Differences in QOL among CI patients in each of the CIQOL-35 domains. RESULTS: Ninety-three patients (40 female, 53 male) aged 20 to 93 years (median 70 years) turned in 164 QOL surveys (68 preactivation, 96 postactivation). Postactivation median QOL was 5 to 15 points higher across all domains ( p < 0.001). QOL score distributions among unilateral CI only, bilateral CI, and unilateral CI with contralateral hearing aid users were not statistically different ( p > 0.05). Multivariate analysis identified that male sex ( ß = -2.0; 95% confidence interval, -3.9 to -0.1) was a negative predictor for environment scores and not being married ( ß = 2.0; 95% confidence interval, 0.02 to 4.0) was a positive predictor for entertainment scores. Median follow-up time was 13 months post-CI (interquartile range [IQR], 7.1-21.5 months). CONCLUSIONS: CI patients experienced improved QOL postactivation among all QOL domains, whereas specific CI use pattern in regard to unilateral, bilateral, or bimodal did not affect QOL. Multivariate analysis identified marital status and sex as possible QOL predictors.