Comparing the Clinical Manifestations of Bell's Palsy between Pre-COVID-19 Pandemic and COVID-19 Pandemic Periods.
J Clin Med 2023;
12:jcm12041700. [PMID:
36836235 PMCID:
PMC9965973 DOI:
10.3390/jcm12041700]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/23/2022] [Revised: 02/17/2023] [Accepted: 02/18/2023] [Indexed: 02/25/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND
COVID-19 has been shown to affect the onset and severity of various diseases. We examined whether the clinical characteristics of Bell's palsy differed between before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.
METHODS
From January 2005 to December 2021, 1839 patients were diagnosed and treated for Bell's palsy at Kyung Hee University Hospital. These patients were divided into a pre-COVID period group and COVID-19 period group, and the clinical characteristics of the two groups were compared.
RESULTS
There were 1719 patients in the pre-COVID period group and 120 patients in the COVID-19 period group. There were no between-group differences in sex (p = 0.103) or in the presence of underlying hypertension (p = 0.632) or diabetes (p = 0.807). Regarding symptoms, there were no significant between-group differences in otalgia, dizziness, tinnitus, hyperacusis, or hearing loss (p = 0.304, p = 0.59, p = 0.351, p = 0.605, and p = 0.949). There were also no significant between-group differences in electroneurography results (p = 0.398), electromyography results (p = 0.331), House-Brackmann Grade at visit (p = 0.634), or recovery rate after treatment (p = 0.525).
CONCLUSIONS
Contrary to our expectation that Bell's palsy cases during the COVID-19 pandemic would show different clinical features than those occurring before COVID-19, the present study found no differences in clinical features or prognosis.
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