Shedding Light on SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19, COVID-19 Vaccination, and Auditory Symptoms : Causality or Spurious Conjunction?

Copyright © 2022 Saunders, Beukes, Uus, Armitage, Kelly and Munro..

There are reports of associations between SARS-CoV2, COVID-19, COVID-19 vaccines, and auditory symptoms (hearing difficulty, tinnitus). However, most studies have relied on self-report and lack baseline and/or non-COVID control groups. This makes it problematic to differentiate if symptoms are associated with SARS-CoV2, COVID-19, the vaccine, psychosocial factors or recall bias. In this study, we differentiate these by comparing hearing and tinnitus survey data collected pre- and during the pandemic. The survey conducted during the pandemic asked about the onset and change in three types of symptom. Type One-known association (loss of smell, memory/concentration issues, persistent fatigue), Type Two-indeterminate association (auditory symptoms), and Type Three-no established association with COVID-19 (toothache). We hypothesized that if auditory symptoms are directly associated with COVID-19, their onset and change would be similar to Type One symptoms, but if indirectly associated (reflecting psychosocial factors and/or recall bias) would be more similar to Type Three symptoms. Of the 6,881 individuals who responded, 6% reported confirmed COVID-19 (positive test), 11% probably had COVID-19, and 83% reported no COVID-19. Those with confirmed or probable COVID-19 more commonly reported new and/or worsened auditory symptoms than those not reporting COVID-19. However, this does not imply causality because: (1) new auditory symptoms coincided with COVID-19 illness among just 1/3 of those with confirmed or probable COVID-19, and another 1/3 said their symptoms started before the pandemic-despite reporting no symptoms in the pre-pandemic survey. (2) >60% of individuals who had COVID-19 said it had affected their Type 3 symptoms, despite a lack of evidence linking the two. (3) Those with confirmed COVID-19 reported more Type 1 symptoms, but reporting of Type 2 and Type 3 symptoms did not differ between those with confirmed COVID-19 and those without COVID-19, while those who probably had COVID-19 most commonly reported these symptom types. Despite more reports of auditory symptoms in confirmed or probable COVID-19, there is inconsistent reporting, recall bias, and possible nocebo effects. Studies that include appropriate control groups and use audiometric measures in addition to self-report to investigate change in auditory symptoms relative to pre-COVID-19 are urgently needed.

Medienart:	E-Artikel

Erscheinungsjahr:	2022
Erschienen:	2022

Enthalten in:	Zur Gesamtaufnahme - volume:10
Enthalten in:	Frontiers in public health - 10(2022) vom: 30., Seite 837513

Sprache:	Englisch

Beteiligte Personen:	Saunders, Gabrielle H [VerfasserIn] Beukes, Eldre [VerfasserIn] Uus, Kai [VerfasserIn] Armitage, Christopher J [VerfasserIn] Kelly, Jack [VerfasserIn] Munro, Kevin J [VerfasserIn]

Links:	Volltext

Themen:	COVID-19 COVID-19 Vaccines COVID-19 vaccine Hearing Journal Article Nocebo effect RNA, Viral Recall bias Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't SARS-CoV-2 Self-report Tinnitus

Anmerkungen:	Date Completed 23.03.2022 Date Revised 23.03.2022 published: Electronic-eCollection Citation Status MEDLINE

doi:	10.3389/fpubh.2022.837513

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PPN (Katalog-ID):	NLM338267085