What is an 'otitis-prone' child?
The present report concerns a random sample of 2512 children monitored for acute otitis media up to the age of two years. The criteria given by previous surveys classified from 1.8 to 41.2% of the population as 'otitis-prone', at a mean age varying between 13.4 and 18.8 months. A criterion of at least 4 episodes of acute otitis media during the next 9 months with a 30-day borderline between two distinct episodes yielded 273 children (10.8% of the population) with an acceptable mean age of 15 months. Early onset of acute otitis media was only a weak predictor of susceptibility in either the individual child or the whole population, the sensitivity levels and predictive values being too low for accurate prediction.
Alho
O P
OP
Department of Otolaryngology, University of Oulu, Finland.
Koivu
M
M
Sorri
M
M
D000208:Acute Disease; D000367:Age Factors; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005387:Finland / Q000453:epidemiology; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007223:Infant; D010033:Otitis Media / Q000453:epidemiology*; D011336:Probability; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012008:Recurrence; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013997:Time Factors