Abstract
Background Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and its effects on hearing performance have been
an interesting topic for researchers recently.
Purpose The objective of this study was to assess the audiological profile of people affected
by COVID-19 and also to compare them with a control group who has never had COVID-19.
Research Design An experimental study.
Study Sample The study group consisted of 54 participants, aged 18 to 60, who were diagnosed with
COVID-19 by polymerase chain reaction and recovered at least 2 months prior to audiological
assessment. The control group consisted of 60 subjects in the same age range who did
not have a history of COVID-19 or hearing loss.
Data Collection and Analysis Post-COVID audiological data were compared. The pre-COVID-19 audiological data of
43 subjects in the study group were also compared with their post-COVID-19 data. All
participants were evaluated with pure tone audiometry, acoustic immittancemetry, speech
audiometry, and high-frequency audiometry.
Results Pure tone hearing thresholds, speech recognition and discrimination scores, and high-frequency
hearing thresholds were all statistically different between the study and control
groups (p < 0.05). There were statistically significant differences between the study group's
pure tone hearing thresholds before and after COVID-19 (p < 0.05).
Conclusion COVID-19 can adversely affect hearing performance. Further studies including auditory
brainstem response, otoacoustic emissions, and similar cross-check tests are needed
to reveal further effects of COVID-19 on hearing.
Keywords
COVID-19 - hearing - high-frequency hearing loss
