The New Coronavirus Infection (COVID-19) and Hearing Function in Adults

In this study, we assessed the impact of COVID-19 on the hearing function in adults. A total of 161 subjects were examined, and the results of a previous audiological examination of 24 patients were reviewed. Pure tone audiometry, impedancemetry, speech audiometry in quiet and noise, the Binaural Fu...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Maria Y. Boboshko (Author), Ekaterina S. Garbaruk (Author), Sof'ya M. Vikhnina (Author), Larisa E. Golovanova (Author), Elena A. Ogorodnikova (Author), Anna V. Rabchevskaya (Author), Ekaterina V. Zhilinskaia (Author)
Format: Book
Published: MDPI AG, 2022-06-01T00:00:00Z.
Subjects:
Online Access:Connect to this object online.
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:In this study, we assessed the impact of COVID-19 on the hearing function in adults. A total of 161 subjects were examined, and the results of a previous audiological examination of 24 patients were reviewed. Pure tone audiometry, impedancemetry, speech audiometry in quiet and noise, the Binaural Fusion Test, the dichotic digits test, and a cognitive status examination were performed. A total of 81% of patients complained about hearing disorders, and 43% noted memory impairment. According to pure tone audiometry, 24% of the subjects had normal hearing, while 76% had some degree of hearing loss. No significant changes in hearing thresholds were found in comparison with audiological examinations performed before COVID-19. Disorder of monosyllabic words' intelligibility in quiet was found in 33% of patients, and in 42% in noise, along with low indicators in the dichotic digits test in 54% of patients. Moreover, 71% of patients had low scores on the MoCA scale that indicated cognitive impairment. Conclusions: The deterioration of speech test scores in patients after COVID-19 can occur due to central auditory processing disorders (CAPD), memory impairment, or changes in cognitive status in general.
Item Description:10.3390/ohbm3020005
2504-463X