title: Tympanostomies with tubes: the parent perspective.
abstract: Successful physician-patient encounters satisfy patient and family member needs beyond the effect on the disease process itself. To evaluate that aspect of care in children with chronic and recurrent acute otitis media with effusion, surveys regarding perceptions of health, socioeconomic issues, and other aspects of postoperative status were sent to the parents of 637 children who underwent tympanostomies with tubes in 1994. Three hundred one (47.3%) were returned. Responses included perceptions of improved health (87%), improvement in socioeconomic factors (75%), overall satisfaction with the results of the operation (93%), and willingness to consent to the operation given similar problems in another child (87%). There were no significant differences in responses with regard to patient gender, length of follow-up, or multiple operations. These results suggest that patient and family needs are satisfied by tympanostomies with tubes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolarynology--Head and Neck Surgery, Henry Ford Health System, Detroit, MI 48202-2689, USA.
authors.forename: S L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Urben
authors.forename: R D
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Nichols
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008876:Middle Ear Ventilation; D010290:Parents; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D011184:Postoperative Period; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D016896:Treatment Outcome