Chronic Otitis Media and Hearing Loss in Covid Pandemic

Aviroop Saha Roy

Abstract: Introduction: Chronic otitis media (COM) is an inflammatory condition of the middle ear, that commonly leads to some degree of conductive hearing loss. However sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) is also seen in some cases. Corona Virus-2019 (nCoV-19) is the cause of the recent ?COVID-19? pandemic. We planned to determine whether the frequency of sensorineural hearing loss in chronic otitis media patients has shown an increasing trend in the pandemic era. Methods: This is Cross sectional Observational study which included 200 patients who presented to ENT department; Bharati Hospital Pune, India. A detailed history of COM patients was taken, specifically asking for a positive COVID RTPCR test. A pure tone audiogram of all patients was obtained. All data was analysed identifying cases with disproportionate conductive, mixed or SNHL to look for statistical correlation between COVID 19 positivity. Results: Of 124 cases without any H/O COVID-19 infection, 87 (70.2%) had conductive, 33 (26.6%) had mixed and 4 (3.2%) had sensorineural hearing loss. Of 76 cases with the H/O COVID-19 infection, 22 (28.9%) had conductive, 30 (39.5%) had mixed and 24 (31.6%) had sensorineural hearing loss. (P-value<0.05). Conclusion: a) Significantly higher proportion of cases with the H/O COVID-19 infection had higher prevalence of mixed hearing loss (39.5%) compared to group of cases without the H/O COVID-19 infection. b) Significantly higher proportion of cases with the H/O COVID-19 infection had higher prevalence of sensorineural hearing loss (31.6%) compared to group of cases without the H/O COVID-19 infection.

Keywords: Chronic otitis media (COM), Sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL), Covid-19 pandemic, Covid RTPCR

How to Cite?: Aviroop Saha Roy, "Chronic Otitis Media and Hearing Loss in Covid Pandemic", Volume 14 Issue 7, July 2025, International Journal of Science and Research (IJSR), Pages: 351-356, https://www.ijsr.net/getabstract.php?paperid=MR25704115846, DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.21275/MR25704115846