Background: COVID-19 has been shown to affect the onset and severity of various diseases. We examined whether the clinical characteristics of Bell’s 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’s 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–Brackmann Grade at visit (p = 0.634), or recovery rate after treatment (p = 0.525). Conclusions: Contrary to our expectation that Bell’s 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.

Few studies have been conducted on the association between oral cavity cancer and metabolic diseases. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between oral cavity cancer and metabolic diseases. MethodsThis cohort study used the database of the Korean National Health Insurance Service, which contains medical data of 97% of the Korean population. Oral cavity cancer occurred in a total of 2,718 patients.Metabolic syndrome was de ned according to IDF criteria. The Cox proportional hazard regression model was used. ResultsThe HR for oral cavity cancer in patients with metabolic syndrome was 1.113(95% CI, 1.006-1.232), which was signi cantly higher than that in normal patients, especially in males (p = 0.0386). When the number of metabolic syndrome factors was ≥ 3, the HR of oral cavity cancer was 1.191(95% CI, 1.026-1.383), which was signi cantly higher than that of 0 metabolic syndrome factors, especially in males (p = 0.0218). When the number of metabolic syndrome factors was ≥ 3, the HR for oral cavity cancer was 1.439(95% CI, 1.066-1.942), which was signi cantly higher than that of 0 metabolic syndrome factors, especially in males aged < 50 years (p = 0.0173). ConclusionMetabolic syndrome increases the risk of oral cavity cancer only in males. In addition, the incidence of oral cavity cancer increased as the number of factors constituting metabolic syndrome increased, only in young males aged < 50 years. Thus, metabolic syndrome is an important risk factor for oral cavity cancer, particularly in young males.