Lack of association of race/ethnicity and otitis media in the first 2 years of life.
Race has been identified as a risk factor for otitis media (OM) in several studies. To further explore this, a database of visits with age at visit < 24 months was constructed from data captured electronically at a public health clinic in North Carolina between July 1994 and December 1996. Among 3,108 children with at least 1 visit, 45% were African-American, 26% were Latino, and 29% were White. There were no differences among the groups in episodes of OM per child or ratio of OM episodes to total visits per child. A cohort of 166 children with follow-up throughout their first 2 years of life was identified. In this group, being uninsured or having exposure to out-of-home child care was associated with an increased risk of OM. Race/ethnicity had no association with frequency of OM as measured by episodes per child, proportion with > or = 1 episode, or proportion with > or = 3 episodes.
Department of Pediatrics, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, North Carolina 27157, USA.
Charles R
CR
Woods
D044383:Black People / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006630:Hispanic or Latino / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D009657:North Carolina / Q000453:epidemiology; D010033:Otitis Media / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000208:ethnology; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D044465:White People / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D001741:Black or African American