609 - Longitudinal Risk of Hearing Loss in the First Three Years of Life in Children with Intrauterine Exposure to COVID-19: Results from the COMBO Cohort

Poster Number: 609
Publication Number: 609.1335

Background: In the United States, hearing loss (HL) affects approximately 1.7 per 1,000 infants, increasing to 5.4% among school aged children. Untreated HL can delay child’s social, emotional, speech and language development. Maternal immune activation (MIA) is among the mechanisms through which prenatal SARS-CoV-2 exposure may increase risk for adverse infant outcomes, such as child HL.

Objective: Herein, we investigate if HL is more common during the first 3-years of life in children exposed to maternal SARS-CoV-2 in utero.

Design/Methods: A subset of mother-child dyads (n = 705) with documented SARS-CoV-2 infections and matched unexposed dyads enrolled in COVID-19 Mother Baby Outcomes (COMBO) Initiative were included. Maternal COVID-19 status, newborn hearing screen results, and other demographic data were abstracted from electronic medical records of children born at Columbia University-affiliated hospitals and subsequently manually reviewed. The National Survey of Children’s Health (NSCH) was administered at child age 18-, 24-, or 36-months. HL was defined as maternal-reported loss on the NSCH or a failed newborn hearing screen in at least one ear. Data were analyzed using logistic regression.

Results: Of the 64 children who experienced HL, 31.3% (n = 20) were born to mothers who were infected with SARS-CoV-2 during pregnancy. Adjusting for sociodemographic variables, child sex, and prematurity, preliminary results suggest no significant association between in-utero SARS-CoV-2 exposure on HL (p = 0.20).

Conclusion(s): In the COMBO Initiative cohort, we did not find an association between SARS-CoV-2 exposure in utero and neonatal or early childhood HL by 3-years of age. Longitudinal studies are ongoing to investigate the consequences of hearing loss in children with SARS-CoV-2 exposure in utero.