Abstract

Background: This cross-sectional study was conducted among adult Omani patients with a confirmed laboratory diagnosis of COVID-19 to determine the prevalence of dizziness, tinnitus and headache in the pre-, during and post-COVID-19 recovery phases. Methodology: The characteristics and severity of symptoms of dizziness, tinnitus and headache in the above three phases were determined by telephone interviews. The severity of symptoms was recorded using the visual analog score. Results: The total number of patients selected was n = 102 (M/F 50/50%; overall mean age = 33.52 ± 3.6 years). The pre-COVID-19 prevalence of dizziness was 16%, tinnitus 13% and headache 53%. During COVID, the prevalence of dizziness increased to 41%; for tinnitus, it remained the same; and for headache, it increased to 73%. Compared to the lower age group category (30–32 years); the pre-COVID-19 prevalence of dizziness was significantly higher in the 33–40 years age group. The severity of symptoms showed a significant correlation in different phases, pre- and post-COVID-19, for dizziness (r = 0.556), tinnitus (r = 0.714) and headache (r = 0.696), and tinnitus during and post-COVID-19 (r = 0.570). Conclusion: The prevalence of dizziness, tinnitus and headaches was high in COVID-19 patients. All symptoms pre-COVID-19 and during COVID-19 persisted post-COVID-19.

Keywords

Publication details

DOI
10.3390/joma2020014
Journal
Journal of the Oman Medical Association, 2(2), 14
Publisher
MDPI
Open access
Gold open access
License
CC BY 4.0

Cite this article

APA 7

Ahmed, N. T. B., Al-Abri, R. K., & Jaju, D. (2025). Prevalence of Dizziness, Tinnitus and Headache Among COVID-19 Patients at Sultan Qaboos University Hospital, Muscat. Journal of the Oman Medical Association, 2(2), 14. https://doi.org/10.3390/joma2020014

MLA 9

Ahmed, Nazik Tayfour Babiker, et al. "Prevalence of Dizziness, Tinnitus and Headache Among COVID-19 Patients at Sultan Qaboos University Hospital, Muscat." Journal of the Oman Medical Association, vol. 2, no. 2, 2025, pp. 14. https://doi.org/10.3390/joma2020014.

Chicago (author–date)

Ahmed, Nazik Tayfour Babiker, Rashid K Al-Abri, and Deepali Jaju. 2025. "Prevalence of Dizziness, Tinnitus and Headache Among COVID-19 Patients at Sultan Qaboos University Hospital, Muscat." Journal of the Oman Medical Association 2 (2): 14. https://doi.org/10.3390/joma2020014.

Harvard

Ahmed, N. T. B., Al-Abri, R. K. and Jaju, D. (2025) 'Prevalence of Dizziness, Tinnitus and Headache Among COVID-19 Patients at Sultan Qaboos University Hospital, Muscat', Journal of the Oman Medical Association, 2(2), pp. 14. doi:10.3390/joma2020014.

Vancouver

Ahmed NTB, Al-Abri RK, Jaju D. Prevalence of Dizziness, Tinnitus and Headache Among COVID-19 Patients at Sultan Qaboos University Hospital, Muscat. Journal of the Oman Medical Association. 2025;2(2):14. doi:10.3390/joma2020014

IEEE

N. T. B. Ahmed, R. K. Al-Abri, and D. Jaju, "Prevalence of Dizziness, Tinnitus and Headache Among COVID-19 Patients at Sultan Qaboos University Hospital, Muscat," Journal of the Oman Medical Association, vol. 2, no. 2, pp. 14, 2025, doi: 10.3390/joma2020014.