Incidence of Tinnitus After COVID-19 Vaccination Compared to Other Vaccines: A Propensity-Score Matched Analysis of a Large Real-World Claims Database

Speaker(s)

Argoubi R1, Furegato M2, Berliner E3, Medina P1
1Oracle Life Sciences, Paris, France, 2Oracle Life Sciences, Este, France, 3Oracle Life Sciences, Kansas City, MO, USA

OBJECTIVES: Investigate the incidence of newly diagnosed tinnitus after COVID-19 vaccination in comparison to other common vaccines.

METHODS: Patients receiving COVID-19 mRNA vaccines between 2020–2023 or comparator vaccines (Influenza, zoster, DTaP, pneumococcal, hepatitis, meningococcal, HPV, salmonella) between 2018–2023 were identified from Oracle Life Sciences’ US Claims database. Patients with previous tinnitus or auditory problems (ICD10:H60-H95) were excluded. Using 1:1 propensity-score matching, patients receiving COVID-19 vaccine were matched to each comparator vaccine. Newly diagnosed tinnitus (ICD10:H93.1) weekly after vaccination were reported and compared in COVID-19 versus other vaccines using Chi-2 tests. Multivariate logistic regression was performed to assess the effect of COVID-19 vaccine, versus each comparator vaccine, on the incidence of tinnitus at 3 weeks post-vaccination.

RESULTS: We identified 6,204,224 patients who received a COVID-19 vaccine. Of them, 1,256 (0.020%) and 3,341 (0.054%) were newly diagnosed with tinnitus within the first and third week post-vaccination, respectively. In the matched populations, proportions of patients developing tinnitus were significantly lower in the first week following COVID-19 vaccination compared to Influenza(0.023% vs. 0.031%,p<0.0001), zoster(0.033% vs. 0.057%,p<0.0001), DTaP(0.018% vs. 0.061%,p<0.0001), pneumococcal(0.033% vs. 0.051%,p=0.001), hepatitis(0.019% vs. 0.031%,p=0.04), meningococcal(0.006% vs. 0.027%,p=0.01), HPV(0.004% vs. 0.018%,p=0.03) and salmonella vaccination (0.013% vs. 0.069%,p=0.01). Within 3 weeks post-vaccination, the incidence of tinnitus was significantly lower in patients receiving COVID-19 vaccine compared to influenza (0.062% vs. 0.067%,p=0.01), zoster (0.083% vs. 0.111%,p<0.0001) and DTaP (0.060% vs. 0.098%,p<0.0001) vaccines. No significant difference was found compared to other vaccines.

COVID-19 vaccination was associated with a significantly lower incidence of tinnitus 3 weeks post-vaccination compared to influenza(OR=0.833[0.776;0.894]), zoster(OR=0.708[0.63;0.795]), DTaP(OR=0.457[0.379;0.55]), pneumococcal(OR=0.572[0.445;0.734]), hepatitis (OR=0.589[0.39;0.888]) and meningococcal(OR=0.383[0.172;0.851]) vaccines. Sensitivity analysis using 6 and 8 weeks showed similar results.

CONCLUSIONS: Based on a propensity-score matched analysis of a large secondary claims database, the rate of newly diagnosed tinnitus after COVID-19 vaccination is significantly lower than after other common vaccines.

Code

CO156

Topic

Clinical Outcomes, Epidemiology & Public Health, Methodological & Statistical Research, Study Approaches

Topic Subcategory

Clinical Outcomes Assessment, Confounding, Selection Bias Correction, Causal Inference, Safety & Pharmacoepidemiology

Disease

Sensory System Disorders (Ear, Eye, Dental, Skin), Vaccines