Increased Incidence of Vestibular Disorders in Patients With SARS-CoV-2

Objective: Determine the incidence of vestibular disorders in patients with SARS-CoV-2 compared to the control population.

Study Design: Retrospective.

Setting: Clinical data in the National COVID Cohort Collaborative database (N3C).

Methods: Deidentified patient data from the National COVID Cohort Collaborative database (N3C) were queried based on variant peak prevalence (untyped, alpha, delta, omicron 21K, and omicron 23A) from covariants.org to retrospectively analyze the incidence of vestibular disorders in patients with SARS-CoV-2 compared to control population, consisting of patients without documented evidence of COVID infection during the same period.

Results: Patients testing positive for COVID-19 were significantly more likely to have a vestibular disorder compared to the control population. Compared to control patients, the odds ratio of vestibular disorders was significantly elevated in patients with untyped (odds ratio [OR], 2.39; confidence intervals [CI], 2.29-2.50; < 0.001), alpha (OR, 3.63; CI, 3.48-3.78; < 0.001), delta (OR, 3.03; CI, 2.94-3.12; < 0.001), omicron 21K variant (OR, 2.97; CI, 2.90-3.04; < 0.001), and omicron 23A variant (OR, 8.80; CI, 8.35-9.27; < 0.001).

Conclusions: The incidence of vestibular disorders differed between COVID-19 variants and was significantly elevated in COVID-19-positive patients compared to the control population. These findings have implications for patient counseling and further research is needed to discern the long-term effects of these findings.