Jonathan Mikhail

Wichita State University, United States

Title: Does COVID-19 Exacerbate Pre-existing Hearing Loss?

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Biography

Dr. Jonathan Mikhail is an audiologist from Joplin, Missouri. In 2015, he graduated from The University of Wisconsin-Stout with his Master’s in Technical and Professional Communication; in 2018, he obtained his Doctor of Audiology from Wichita State University; in 2023, he received his Doctor of Education in Health Sciences from A.T. Still University. During his studies, his research has focused on communication for individuals with hearing loss, the number of courses focused on communication offered within current audiology programs in the United States, and the effects of COVID-19 on patients with pre-existing hearing loss. 

Research Intrest

Abstract

This study aimed to determine if COVID-19 considerably affects patients with pre-existing hearing loss and occurred over one calendar year. The participants in this study were between the ages of 50 and 64 who had been diagnosed with hearing loss between March 15, 2019, and March 15, 2020, and contracted COVID-19 within six months of March 15, 2020. The participant’s hearing was tested to monitor the regression of hearing loss following a diagnosis of COVID-19.

Using a paired T-test to compare puretone averages (PTAs) of 500Hz, 1000Hz, and 2000Hz, the data suggested that participants' PTAs worsened after the contraction of COVID-19 in both the right and left ears (p-value = < .01). Word recognition scores (WRSs), however, did not decrease when a paired T-test was performed. The researcher used a two-way ANOVA test to evaluate if gender affected PTAs and suggested that gender did not affect the PTAs substantially. Since PTAs did show a clinically significant decrease, it was anticipated that speech reception thresholds (SRTs) would also have worsened, and a paired T-test signified that the SRTs did regress.

While the study's main objective was to establish a viable framework for more longitudinal studies associated with COVID-19, this study also aimed to provide clinicians (PCPs, AuDs, and ENTs) with further evidence of how COVID-19 can affect peripheral hearing sensitivity. By understanding how viral infections disrupt the auditory system, audiologists and physicians can better serve patients with hearing impairments and provide a better pathway to audiological or medical interventions.