Hearing Disorder Following COVID-19 Vaccination: A Pharmacovigilance Analysis Using the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System

What Is Known And Objective: Evidence on whether the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination could cause hearing-related adverse events is still conflicting. This study aims to access the association between COVID-19 vaccine and hearing disorder.

Methods: The Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) was queried between January 2020 to November 2021. The disproportionality pattern for hearing impairment of COVID-19 vaccine was accessed by calculating the reporting odds ratio (ROR) and proportional reporting ratio (PRR). A further subgroup analysis based on the type of COVID-19 vaccine and the doses administered was performed. In addition, the disproportionalities for hearing dysfunction between COVID-19 and influenza vaccines were compared.

Results And Discussion: A total of 14,956 reports of hearing-related adverse events were identified with COVID-19 vaccination and 151 with influenza vaccine during the analytic period in VAERS. The incidence of hearing disorder following COVID-19 vaccination was 6.66 per 100,000. The results of disproportionality analysis revealed that the adverse events of hearing impairment, after administration of COVID-19 vaccine, was significantly highly reported (ROR 2.38, 95% confidence interval [CI] 2.20-2.56; PRR: 2.35, χ 537.58), for both mRNA (ROR 2.37, 95% CI 2.20-2.55; PRR 2.34, χ 529.75) and virus vector vaccines (ROR 2.50, 95% CI 2.28-2.73; PRR 2.56, χ 418.57). While the disproportional level for hearing dysfunction was quite lower in influenza vaccine (ROR 0.36, 95% CI 0.30-0.42; PRR 0.36, χ 172.24).

What Is New And Conclusion: This study identified increased risk for hearing disorder following administration of both mRNA and virus vector COVID-19 vaccines compared to influenza vaccination in real-world settings.