Hearing disorder following COVID-19 vaccination: A pharmacovigilance analysis using the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System.

Abstract

What is known and objectiveEvidence 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.MethodsThe 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 discussionA 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 2 537.58), for both mRNA (ROR 2.37, 95% CI 2.20–2.55; PRR 2.34, χ2 529.75) and virus vector vaccines (ROR 2.50, 95% CI 2.28–2.73; PRR 2.56, χ 2 418.57). 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 2 172.24).What is new and conclusionThis 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.