[Automatic screening tympanometry in school medicine]

The authors have tested 1690 ears of kindergarten and schoolchildren aged between 2 1/2 and 13 with a completely automatic tympanometer Model 85 AR American Electromedics whose most interesting characteristic is a supple eartip which adjusts to the concha without penetrating the external earduct. That technical advantage makes it a very non-aggressive instrument, easy to use for school medical screening. The results obtained are quite the same as those mentioned in the literature: 23% of the children tested have a pathological tympanogram. Three to 6 weeks later, 50% of these tympanograms remain abnormal. The breakdown by age group analysis shows a larger frequency of middle ear pathology between the ages of 2 1/2 and 6. The use of an automatic tympanometer for the screening of suspect cases seems to not only be highly suitable but needed for kindergarten children before beginning primary school.