Intensity and discomfort of post-COVID-19 tinnitus: a comparative study

observational, exploratory and cross-sectional research with 242 participants, divided into two equal groups matched according to sex and age group. The control group, composed of individuals with tinnitus in the pre-pandemic period, and the study group, composed of participants who reported post-COVID-19 tinnitus in different regions of the country. General and domain-specific scores from the Tinnitus Handicap Inventory (THI) and Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) were compared through descriptive statistical analysis, normality tests, comparison of groups and correlation between variables.

Results

in each group, 93 participants were female and 28 male, with a mean age of 35 years. The “negligible” and “mild” degrees of the THI and the “mild” and “moderate” of the VAS were higher for the SG, while the catastrophic domain of the THI and the VAS indicate worse scores for the CG. There was a significant difference between all domains of the inter- and intra-group scales.

Conclusion

milder manifestations of post-COVID-19 tinnitus disturbance, intensity and discomfort were found, compared to symptoms arising from other causes. Thus, the self-reported impact of the studied population was lower, pointing to better therapeutic and prognostic possibilities.

Keywords:
COVID-19; Pandemic; Tinnitus; Hearing disorders; Disease impact profile

Variable		Group	n ¹	% ²	Test statistics ^**	p-value
Gender	Female	Control	93	76.9	0.000	1.000
	Female	Study	28	23.1
	Male	Control	93	76.9
	Male	Study	28	23.1
THI ³ Degree	Negligible	Control	25	20.7	4.288	0.368
	Negligible	Study	27	22.3
	Mild	Control	25	20.7
	Mild	Study	37	30.6
	Moderate	Control	28	23.1
	Moderate	Study	22	18.2
	Severe	Control	25	20.7
	Severe	Study	18	14.9
	Catastrophic	Control	18	14.9
	Catastrophic	Study	17	14.0
VAS ⁴ Degree	Mild	Control	8	6.6	11.576	0.003^*
	Mild	Study	24	19.8
	Moderate	Control	64	52.9
	Moderate	Study	65	53.7
	Severe	Control	49	40.5
	Severe	Study	32	26.4

Variables		Group	Minimum	Maximum	Mean	SD ¹	Test ^**	p-value
Age		Control	16	73	37.15	11.71	7124.5	0.719
Age		Study	19	73	36.60	11.16	7124.5	0.719
THI ²	Functional	Control	0	44	19.11	12.33	6553.5	0.158
	Functional	Study	0	42	16.86	12.13	6553.5	0.158
	Emotional	Control	0	36	16.71	11.11	6557.5	0.160
	Emotional	Study	0	36	14.76	11.21	6557.5	0.160
	Catastrophic	Control	0	40	10.69	6.87	6209.5	0.040^*
	Catastrophic	Study	0	20	8.89	5.62	6209.5	0.040^*
	Total	Control	0	98	45.96	27.00	6468.5	0.118
	Total	Study	0	98	40.51	27.36	6468.5	0.118
VAS ³		Control	2	10	6.45	2.37	5696.5	0.003*
VAS ³		Study	0	10	5.33	2.92	5696.5	0.003*

Variable 1	Variable 2	Correlation ^**	p-value
THI Functional	THI Emotional	0.823	0.000^*
	THI Catastrophic	0.701	0.000*
	THI Total	0.933	0.000*
	THI Degree	0.899	0.000*
	VAS	0.572	0.000*
	VAS Degree	0.518	0.000*
THI Emotional	THI Catastrophic	0.785	0.000*
	THI Total	0.946	0.000*
	THI Degree	0.924	0.000*
	VAS	0.614	0.000*
	VAS Degree	0.564	0.000*
THI Catastrophic	THI Total	0.858	0.000*
	THI Degree	0.836	0.000*
	VAS	0.556	0.000*
	VAS Degree	0.525	0.000*
THI Total	VAS	0.629	0.000*
THI Total	VAS Degree	0.579	0.000*
THI Degree	VAS	0.592	0.000*
THI Degree	VAS Degree	0.544	0.000*

Academia Brasileira de Audiologia Rua Itapeva, 202, conjunto 61, CEP 01332-000, Tel.: (11) 3253-8711, Fax: (11) 3253-8473 - São Paulo - SP - Brazil
E-mail: revista@audiologiabrasil.org.br

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[1] Conflict of interests: No.