Abstract
Objective
Several viruses are known to have a negative impact on hearing health. The global prevalence of COVID-19 means that it is crucial to understand whether and how SARS-CoV2 affects hearing. Evidence to date is mixed, with studies frequently exhibiting limitations in the methodological approaches used or the populations sampled, leading to a substantial risk of bias. This study addressed many of these limitations.
Design
A comprehensive battery of measures was administered, including lab-based behavioural and physiological measures, as well as self-report instruments. Performance was thoroughly assessed across the auditory system, including measures of cochlear function, neural function and auditory perception. Hypotheses and analyses were pre-registered.
Study samples
Participants who were hospitalised as a result of COVID-19 (n = 57) were compared with a well-matched control group (n = 40) who had also been hospitalised but had never had COVID-19.
Results
We find no evidence to support the hypothesis that COVID-19 is associated with deficits in auditory function on any auditory test measure. Of all the confirmatory analyses, only the self-report measure of hearing decline indicated any difference between groups.
Conclusion
Results do not support the hypothesis that COVID-19 infection has a significant long-term impact on the auditory system.
Several viruses are known to have a negative impact on hearing health. The global prevalence of COVID-19 means that it is crucial to understand whether and how SARS-CoV2 affects hearing. Evidence to date is mixed, with studies frequently exhibiting limitations in the methodological approaches used or the populations sampled, leading to a substantial risk of bias. This study addressed many of these limitations.
Design
A comprehensive battery of measures was administered, including lab-based behavioural and physiological measures, as well as self-report instruments. Performance was thoroughly assessed across the auditory system, including measures of cochlear function, neural function and auditory perception. Hypotheses and analyses were pre-registered.
Study samples
Participants who were hospitalised as a result of COVID-19 (n = 57) were compared with a well-matched control group (n = 40) who had also been hospitalised but had never had COVID-19.
Results
We find no evidence to support the hypothesis that COVID-19 is associated with deficits in auditory function on any auditory test measure. Of all the confirmatory analyses, only the self-report measure of hearing decline indicated any difference between groups.
Conclusion
Results do not support the hypothesis that COVID-19 infection has a significant long-term impact on the auditory system.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 300-312 |
Number of pages | 13 |
Journal | International journal of audiology |
Volume | 63 |
Issue number | 5 |
Early online date | 26 Jun 2023 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published online - 26 Jun 2023 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© 2023 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group on behalf of British Society of Audiology, International Society of Audiology, and Nordic Audiological Society.
Keywords
- Speech and Hearing
- Linguistics and Language
- Language and Linguistics
- COVID-19
- SARS-Cov2
- auditory function
- hearing loss