Jarach Carlotta Micaela, Lugo Alessandra, Stival Chiara, Bosetti Cristina, Amerio Andrea, Cavalieri d'Oro Luca, Iacoviello Licia, Odone Anna, Stuckler David, Zucchi Alberto, van den Brandt Piet, Garavello Werner, Cederroth Christopher R, Schlee Winfried, Gallus Silvano
Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche Mario Negri IRCCS, Milan, Italy.
Department of Oncology, Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche Mario Negri IRCCS, Milan, Italy.
Front Neurol. 2022 Mar 7;13:838291. doi: 10.3389/fneur.2022.838291. eCollection 2022.
Although a direct relationship between tinnitus or hearing difficulties and COVID-19 has been suggested, current literature provides inconsistent results, and no research has been undertaken in older adults.
In November 2020, we conducted the LOST in Lombardia survey, a telephone-based cross-sectional study on a sample of 4,400 individuals representative of the general population aged ≥65 years from Lombardy region, Northern Italy. Individuals with diagnosed tinnitus and/or hearing loss were asked whether their conditions had improved or deteriorated in 2020 compared to 2019.
Overall, 8.1% of older adults reported a diagnosis of tinnitus and 10.5% of hearing loss. In 2020 compared to 2019, among individuals with tinnitus, those with increasing severity (5.0%) were similar to those decreasing it (5.3%). Among individuals with hearing loss, more people reported an increase (13.6%) than a decrease (3.2%) in their disease severity. No individual with a diagnosis in 2020 of tinnitus ( = 6) or hearing loss ( = 13) had COVID-19. The incidence of tinnitus was lower in 2020 (rate: 14.8 per 10,000 person-years) than in previous years (rate in 1990-2019: 36.0 per 10,000 person-years; = 0.026). There was no change in the incidence of hearing loss ( = 0.134).
In this large representative sample of older adults, on average neither COVID-19 confinement nor SARS-CoV-2 infection appeared to increase the severity or incidence of tinnitus. The increased severity of hearing difficulties may totally or partially be explained by physiologic deterioration of the condition, or by a misperception due to the use of face-masks.
尽管已有研究表明耳鸣或听力障碍与新型冠状病毒肺炎（COVID-19）之间存在直接关联，但目前的文献结果并不一致，且尚未有针对老年人的相关研究。
2020年11月，我们开展了伦巴第失聪调查，这是一项基于电话的横断面研究，样本来自意大利北部伦巴第地区4400名年龄≥65岁的具有代表性的普通人群。询问被诊断患有耳鸣和/或听力损失的个体，与2019年相比，其病情在2020年是有所改善还是恶化。
总体而言，8.1%的老年人报告被诊断患有耳鸣，10.5%的老年人报告有听力损失。与2019年相比，2020年耳鸣患者中，病情加重的患者比例（5.0%）与病情减轻的患者比例（5.3%）相近。在听力损失患者中，报告病情加重的人数（13.6%）多于病情减轻的人数（3.2%）。2020年被诊断患有耳鸣（n = 6）或听力损失（n = 13）的个体均未感染COVID-19。2020年耳鸣的发病率（每10000人年14.8例）低于前几年（1990 - 2019年发病率：每10000人年36.0例；P = 0.026）。听力损失的发病率没有变化（P = 0.134）。
在这个具有代表性的老年人大样本中，平均而言，COVID-19隔离措施和严重急性呼吸综合征冠状病毒2（SARS-CoV-2）感染似乎均未增加耳鸣的严重程度或发病率。听力障碍严重程度的增加可能完全或部分归因于病情的生理恶化，或因佩戴口罩导致的认知偏差。
