Changes in Otorhinolaryngologic Disease Incidences before and during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Korea

So Young Kim, Dae Myoung Yoo, Ji Hee Kim, Mi Jung Kwon, Joo-Hee Kim, Juyong Chung () and Hyo Geun Choi ()
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So Young Kim: Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, CHA Bundang Medical Center, CHA University, Seongnam 13496, Korea
Dae Myoung Yoo: Hallym Data Science Laboratory, Hallym University College of Medicine, Anyang 14068, Korea
Ji Hee Kim: Department of Neurosurgery, Hallym University College of Medicine, Anyang 14068, Korea
Mi Jung Kwon: Department of Pathology, Hallym University College of Medicine, Anyang 14068, Korea
Joo-Hee Kim: Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care Medicine, Department of Medicine, Hallym University College of Medicine, Anyang 14068, Korea
Juyong Chung: Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, Wonkwang University School of Medicine, Iksan 54538, Korea
Hyo Geun Choi: Hallym Data Science Laboratory, Hallym University College of Medicine, Anyang 14068, Korea

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 20, 1-10

Abstract: This study aimed to investigate the change in the incidence and variance of otorhinolaryngologic diseases during the coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) pandemic. The entire Korean population (~50 million) was evaluated for the monthly incidence of 11 common otorhinolaryngologic diseases of upper respiratory infection (URI), influenza, acute tonsillitis, peritonsillar abscess, retropharyngeal and parapharyngeal abscess, acute laryngitis and bronchitis, stomatitis and related lesions, acute sinusitis, rhinitis, otitis media, and dizziness from January 2018 through March 2021 using the International Classification of Disease (ICD)-10 codes with the data of the Korea National Health Insurance Service. The differences in the mean incidence of 11 common otorhinolaryngologic diseases before and during COVID-19 were compared using the Mann—Whitney U test. The differences in the variance of incidence before and during COVID-19 were compared using Levene’s test. The incidence of all 11 otorhinolaryngologic diseases was lower during COVID-19 than before COVID-19 (all p < 0.05). The variations in disease incidence by season were lower during COVID-19 than before COVID-19 for infectious diseases, including URI, influenza, acute tonsillitis, peritonsillar abscess, retropharyngeal and parapharyngeal abscess, acute laryngitis and bronchitis, acute sinusitis, and otitis media (all p < 0.05), while it was not in noninfectious diseases, including stomatitis, rhinitis, and dizziness. As expected, the incidences of all otorhinolalryngolgic diseases were decreased. Additionally, we found that seasonal variations in infectious diseases disappeared during the COVID-19 pandemic, while noninfectious diseases did not.

Keywords: COVID-19; communicable diseases; influenza; human; respiratory tract infections; risk factors (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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