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№2(7) 2024

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DOI 10.37219/2528-8253-2024-2-27

Shydlovska TA, Bezega MI, Volkova TV, Bezeha BM

TIMING AND DURATION OF SENSORY COMPLAINTS IN COVID-19 SURVIVORS

Shydlovska Tetiana A
State Institution “O.S. Kolomiychenko Institute of Otolaryngology of National Academy of Medical Science of Ukraine”; Kyiv, Ukraine.
Head of the laboratory of voice and hearing
Doctor of Medical Sciences, Professor
Email: lorprof3@ukr.net  
Orchid ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7894-359X
Bezega Mychailo I
Poltava State Medical University
Department of Otorhinolaryngology with Ophthalmology
Candidate of Medical Sciences
Email: lorbezega@gmail.com
ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1250-1190
Volkova Tetyana V
State Institution “O.S. Kolomiychenko Institute of Otolaryngology of National Academy of Medical Science of Ukraine”; Kyiv, Ukraine.
Laboratory for Occupational Voice and Hearing
Junior Researcher
Email: amtc@kndio.kiev.ua
Orchid ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7894-359X
Bezeha Bohdan M
Communal enterprise «M.V. Sklifosovsky Poltava Regional Clinical Hospital Poltava Regional Council»
ENT department
Otolaryngologist
Email: bogdanbezegalor@gmail.com
ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0517-9989

Abstract

Relevance: As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, a significant number of patients have experienced various clinical manifestations of the disease. At the same time, it is of great interest to study the effect of SARS-CoV-2 on the sensory and central nervous systems. 

Purpose: This study aimed to determine the presence, duration and timing of hearing, olfactory, gustatory, and vocal function disorders in patients with COVID-19.

Materials and methods: We examined 54 patients with COVID-19 who had hearing impairment, olfactory impairment, taste impairment, voice impairment, and nervous system changes. Patients sought care after recovery, and 22.2 % of the patients examined had repeated COVID-19 infections.

Results and discussion: We conducted a detailed history and analysis of complaints from patients with COVID-19. According to our data, patients with COVID-19 complained of changes in their sensory systems: hearing impairment in 63%, olfactory impairment in 51.8%, and taste impairment in 33.3% of cases. 22.2 % of them reported voice impairment. The vast majority of patients (72.2%) complained of general complaints of headaches, dizziness, memory and attention disorders, and sleep disorders. Most patients showed signs of multiple sensory systems being affected simultaneously.

Hearing impairment, reduced speech intelligibility, and tinnitus were reported by 63% of the patients with COVID-19. Hearing impairment in COVID-19 had two distinctive manifestations. One was the symptoms of damage to the auditory system that occurred directly during the disease (and were accompanied by inflammatory manifestations such as stuffiness, ear pain, etc.), and the other was delayed symptoms that occurred after recovery and developed slowly (mostly sensorineural disorders). In the first case, patients experienced symptoms of hearing impairment more often from day 5-7 of the disease, which lasted up to 10 days. In the second case, signs of hearing analyzer damage occurred delayed, mostly 1.5-2 months after recovery and even 3-5 months later. It should be noted that 26.4% of patients had perceptual hearing impairment before COVID-19, and the infectious disease led to the progression of sensorineural hearing loss.

About half of all examined patients (51.8%) complained of olfactory impairment, which was manifested by the absence of smell and distortion or exacerbation of olfactory sensitivity. Almost simultaneously with olfactory disturbances, patients experienced changes in the sense of taste (33.3%).

Impaired vocal function in patients with COVID-19 occurred in 22.2% of cases. Patients complained of vocal fatigue and hoarseness. However, some of them developed persistent disorders of the vocal apparatus in the form of functional hypotonic dysphonia and vocal fold paresis.

Dizziness bothered about 40% of the patients we examined. More often, the symptoms occurred on the 12-14th day after the first manifestations of COVID-19 and lasted about two months after recovery – in one-third of patients (33.3%). The presence of such complaints indicates damage to the vestibular system.

Thus, after SARS-CoV-2 infection, even in mild form, patients often experience specific complications of the disease, which may include hearing impairment, olfactory impairment, taste impairment, and voice impairment. Identifying information on the timing of complaints and the duration of symptoms during and after the disease is essential for the timely diagnosis and treatment of COVID-19 complications and helps to determine preventive measures adequately.

Conclusions:

  1. Sensory system disorders are common in COVID-19. Patients with COVID-19 often complain of hearing, smell, taste, and voice disorders, which may indicate that the respective sensory systems are affected by the disease.
  2. Sensory system damage in COVID-19 often occurs in a delayed manner, sometimes after recovery. It primarily concerns sensorineural hearing impairment and persistent voice disorders. This possible etiological factor must be taken into account when providing care to patients with sensorineural hearing loss and persistent voice disorders.
  3. Acute viral infection caused by the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus can lead to the development of persistent disorders of auditory, olfactory, vocal, gustatory and vestibular function.

Keywords: COVID-19, sensory systems, auditory analyser, hearing impairment, olfactory function, voice impairment.

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