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[Manner of birth and otitis media]
C J Mansfield1, H J Daniel, E A Sumpter
1Ecole des Sciences Paramédicales, Faculté de Médecine, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC 27858.
Background:
There are many risk factors associated with the occurrence of otitis media; cesarean section could be one of them.
Report:
Two hundred and eighty four children were treated during the first three years of life by the same pediatric service. 47% of these children were treated for otitis media and 53% were not. 41% were delivered by cesarean section, and 59% were vaginal births. The incidence of otitis media in the cesarean section group was 0.504, versus 0.449 in the vaginal birth group.
Results:
These data indicate that the fraction of risk of having otitis media that is attributable to cesarean section is 11%; the relative risk is 1.12.
Conclusion:
The observed effect is not large enough to confirm that cesarean section is a risk factor, but suggests that a carefully controlled prospective study should be conducted.