[Otoscopy and tympanometry in the diagnosis of secretory otitis media]

OBJECTIVE: To study the sensitivity and specificity of otoscopy and tympanometry in the diagnosis of secretory otitis media. METHODS: A prospective study was performed in 98 children (196 ears) with indication of myringotomy with placement of tympanostomy tube because of the diagnosis of secretory otitis media. All these patients had conductive hearing loss and/or delay of speech and/or low school performance. To evaluate the diagnostic power of the tests, both otoscopy and tympanometry were performed. Myringotomy was established as the gold-standard. The statistical analysis was done using the chi-square test, being significant a p<0.05.RESULTS: The mean age of the patients was 6.02 years (sd: 2.93 years). The otoscopy presented sensitivity of 87.5% and specificity of 61.1% and the tympanometry presented sensitivity of 93.75% and specificity of 72.2%. CONCLUSIONS: There was no statistically significant difference in sensitivity between otoscopy and tympanometry for the diagnosis of secretory otitis media, however, tympanometry was significantly more specific than otoscopy (p< 0.01).