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Recurrent acute otitis media detracts from health-related quality of life
Insights
Recurrent acute otitis media significantly impacts young children's quality of life. While quality of life improves with time, it doesn't fully recover to healthy levels, irrespective of treatment.
Area of Science:
- Pediatrics
- Otolaryngology
- Health Outcomes Research
Background:
- Acute otitis media (AOM) is a common childhood illness causing significant parental burden.
- Recurrent AOM negatively affects a child's well-being and daily functioning.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the quality of life (QoL) in infants and toddlers under 24 months with recurrent AOM.
- To compare QoL between children with recurrent AOM and healthy controls.
Main Methods:
- A cohort of 149 children aged 10-24 months with recurrent AOM were assessed.
- Quality of life was measured using the Child Health Questionnaire.
- Age-matched healthy children served as controls.
Main Results:
- Children with recurrent AOM reported significantly lower QoL than controls.
- Even children with a history of mild AOM had poorer QoL than those without AOM.
- QoL improved over one year for children with recurrent AOM, but remained below that of healthy peers.
Conclusions:
- Recurrent acute otitis media demonstrably reduces quality of life in young children.
- Treatment strategies for recurrent AOM did not significantly alter QoL improvement trajectories.
Objective:
Acute otitis media causes discomfort to children and inconvenience to their parents. This study evaluated the quality of life in children with recurrent acute otitis media aged less than 24 months.
Methods:
Quality of life was evaluated in 149 children aged 10 to 24 months who were referred to the Oulu University Hospital on account of recurrent acute otitis media. The children were treated with or without surgery. Age-matched controls were selected randomly from the general child population. Parents completed the Child Health Questionnaire.
Results:
The children with recurrent acute otitis media had a significantly poorer quality of life than control children. The control children with a history of a few acute otitis media episodes had a significantly poorer quality of life than those without any such history. The quality of life of the children with recurrent acute otitis media improved during the one-year follow up, regardless of the treatment, but did not reach the same level as healthy children.
Conclusion:
Acute otitis media detracted from quality of life when a generic measure was used. The mode of treatment used to prevent further recurrences of acute otitis media did not influence quality of life improvement.
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