Prevalence of New-Onset Tinnitus after COVID-19 Vaccination with Comparison to Other Vaccinations.

OBJECTIVE

To investigate how often patients are diagnosed with new-onset tinnitus within 21 days after COVID-19 vaccination in comparison to after three other common vaccinations: influenza, Tdap (tetanus, diphtheria, and acellular pertussis), and polysaccharide pneumococcus.

METHODS

The TriNetX Analytics Network, a federated health research network that aggregates the de-identified electronic health record (EHR) data of over 78 million patients, was queried for patients receiving each vaccination. Instances of new-onset tinnitus within 21 days of vaccination were recorded and reported.

RESULTS

Out of 2,575,235 patients receiving a first dose of the mRNA COVID-19 vaccine without any prior tinnitus diagnosis, 0.038% (95% CI: 0.036%-0.041%) of patients had a new diagnosis of tinnitus within 21 days. There was a higher risk of a new tinnitus diagnosis after the influenza vaccine (RR: 1.95, 95% CI: 1.72-2.21), Tdap vaccine (RR: 2.36, 95% CI: 1.93-2.89), and pneumococcal vaccine (RR: 1.97, 95% CI: 1.48-2.64) than after the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. There was a lower risk of a new tinnitus diagnosis after the second dose of COVID-19 than after the first dose (RR: 0.80, 95% CI: 0.71-0.91).

CONCLUSION

The rate of newly diagnosed tinnitus acutely after the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine is very low. There was a higher risk of newly diagnosed tinnitus after influenza, Tdap, and pneumococcal vaccinations than after the COVID-19 vaccine. The present findings can help to address COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy during the ongoing pandemic.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE

Level 3 Laryngoscope, 133:1722-1725, 2023.