The spectrum of otitis media in family practice

Individual and family factors which relate to acute purulent otitis media were investigated in a family practice population. In a practice with more than 11,000 patients, 442 persons had 527 episodes of otitis media during a one-year period. More than 20 percent of the cases occurred in patients of age 15 years and over, but the case rate per year for this group was 11 cases per 1,000 as opposed to 109.7 cases per 1,000 for patients under the age of 15 years. Twenty percent of young children had two or more episodes during the year as compared with five percent for adults. Females had more multiple episodes than did males. The incidence of multiple cases in families is greater than would be expected if cases were distributed randomly (P less than 0.05). However, significantly fewer families with three or more children reported cases of otitis media as compared with smaller families (P less than 0.05).