Burden of acute otitis media on Canadian families

To estimate the burden of acute otitis media (AOM) on Canadian families.

Telephone survey using random-digit dialing.

All Canadian provinces between May and June 2008.

Caregivers of 1 or more children aged 6 months to 5 years.

Caregivers' reports on the number of AOM episodes experienced by the child in the past 12 months, as well as disease characteristics, health services and medication use, time spent on medical consultations (including travel), and time taken off from work to care for the sick children.

A total of 502 eligible caregivers were recruited, 161 (32%) of whom reported at least 1 AOM episode for their children and 42 (8%) of whom reported 3 or more episodes during the past 12 months. Most children (94%, 151 of 161) visited with health professionals during their most recent AOM episodes. The average time required for medical examination was 3.1 hours in an emergency department and 1.8 hours in an outpatient clinic. Overall, 93% of episodes resulted in antibiotics use. A substantial proportion of caregivers (38%) missed work during this time; the average time taken off work was 15.9 hours.

In Canada, episodes of AOM are still associated with substantial use of health services and indirect costs to the caregivers.