{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,2]],"date-time":"2026-01-02T07:35:00Z","timestamp":1767339300087,"version":"build-2065373602"},"reference-count":35,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"4","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2023,2,20]],"date-time":"2023-02-20T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1676851200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100003725","name":"National Research Foundation of Korea","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["NRF-2018R1A6A1A03025124","NRF 2019R1A2C1086807","NRF 2022R1A2C1091779","HV22C0233"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["NRF-2018R1A6A1A03025124","NRF 2019R1A2C1086807","NRF 2022R1A2C1091779","HV22C0233"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100003725","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100003710","name":"Korea Health Industry Development Institute","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["NRF-2018R1A6A1A03025124","NRF 2019R1A2C1086807","NRF 2022R1A2C1091779","HV22C0233"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["NRF-2018R1A6A1A03025124","NRF 2019R1A2C1086807","NRF 2022R1A2C1091779","HV22C0233"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100003710","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["JCM"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background: COVID-19 has been shown to affect the onset and severity of various diseases. We examined whether the clinical characteristics of Bell\u2019s 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\u2019s 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\u2013Brackmann Grade at visit (p = 0.634), or recovery rate after treatment (p = 0.525). Conclusions: Contrary to our expectation that Bell\u2019s 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.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/jcm12041700","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,2,21]],"date-time":"2023-02-21T01:39:28Z","timestamp":1676943568000},"page":"1700","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":4,"title":["Comparing the Clinical Manifestations of Bell\u2019s Palsy between Pre-COVID-19 Pandemic and COVID-19 Pandemic Periods"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"12","author":[{"given":"Gang Won","family":"Choi","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Otorhinolaryngology Head & Neck Surgery, Kyung Hee University School of Medicine, Kyung Hee University Medical Center, Seoul 02447, Republic of Korea"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1628-9948","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Dong Keon","family":"Yon","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Center for Digital Health, Medical Science Research Institute, Kyung Hee University School of Medicine, Kyung Hee University Medical Center, Seoul 02447, Republic of Korea"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9181-7849","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Yong Sung","family":"Choi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pediatrics, Kyung Hee University School of Medicine, Kyung Hee University Medical Center, Seoul 02447, Republic of Korea"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8580-490X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jinseok","family":"Lee","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biomedical Engineering, Kyung Hee University, Youngin 17104, Republic of Korea"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Ki Ho","family":"Park","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Internal Medicine, Kyung Hee University School of Medicine, Kyung Hee University Medical Center, Seoul 02447, Republic of Korea"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5294-7368","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Young Ju","family":"Lee","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Kyung Hee University School of Medicine, Kyung Hee University Medical Center, Seoul 02447, Republic of Korea"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Dong Choon","family":"Park","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, St. Vincent\u2019s Hospital, The Catholic University of Korea, Suwon 14647, Republic of Korea"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5045-5060","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Sang Hoon","family":"Kim","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Otorhinolaryngology Head & Neck Surgery, Kyung Hee University School of Medicine, Kyung Hee University Medical Center, Seoul 02447, Republic of Korea"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8273-0207","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jae Young","family":"Byun","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Otorhinolaryngology Head & Neck Surgery, Kyung Hee University School of Medicine, Kyung Hee University Medical Center, Seoul 02447, Republic of Korea"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8021-1024","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Seung Geun","family":"Yeo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Otorhinolaryngology Head & Neck Surgery, Kyung Hee University School of Medicine, Kyung Hee University Medical Center, Seoul 02447, Republic of Korea"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,2,20]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","first-page":"2391","article-title":"Clinical Disorders of the Facial Nerve. 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