Psychological status in children with ear and nose foreign body insertion

Children with psychological disorders are prone to various unintentional injuries, one of the most common of which is foreign body inserting. In spite of the high incidence, the association is not studied yet.

This is a case control study in otorhinolaryngology and psychology departments, at a tertiary referral teaching hospital. One hundred five children (2-12 years old) who were referred for removal of foreign bodies in their ear or nose over a period of one year were selected for the study. Also, 155 children were selected and matched from the same community as the controls. Parents were given the standard strengths and difficulty questionnaire (SDQ) for psychological evaluation of their child. The total score and also the subscales for emotional symptoms, hyperactivity disorders, conduct problems, peer-relationship problemsand prosocialbehaviors were recorded and statistical analysis was performed.

In the case group, 34 cases (%32.4) were suffering from foreign bodies in their ear, 70 cases (%66.7) in their nose, and just one case (%1) in both. Age and sex distributionin the two groups were comparable. There were significant differences of SDQ scores between the two groups in total score (p < 0.001), emotional symptoms (p < 0.001), hyperactivity disorders (p < 0.001), conduct problems (p < 0.001), and prosocial behaviors (p < 0.001). However peer-relationship problems showed no significant difference between the two groups (p = 0.161).

Psychological problems are more common in children with foreign bodies than the controls. Thus physicians are recommended to consider referring these patients to the pediatric psychologist.