Prenatal and postnatal parental smoking and acute otitis media in early childhood.
OBJECTIVE
To explore the associations between acute otitis media in early childhood and prenatal and postnatal tobacco smoke exposure.


METHODS
Subjects were 32 077 children born between 2000 and 2005 in the Norwegian Mother and Child Study with questionnaire data on tobacco smoke exposure and acute otitis media up to 18 months of age. Multivariate regression models were used to obtain adjusted relative risks for acute otitis media.


RESULTS
Acute otitis media was slightly more common in children exposed to parental smoking. The incidence from 0 to 6 months was 4.7% in unexposed children and 6.0% in children exposed both prenatally and postnatally. After adjusting for postnatal exposure and covariates, the relative risk for acute otitis media 0-6 months when exposed to maternal smoking in pregnancy was 1.34, 95% confidence interval: 1.06-1.69. Maternal smoking in pregnancy was associated with acute otitis media up to 12 months of age. Compared with non-exposed children, there was a slightly increased risk of recurrent acute otitis media for children exposed both prenatally and postnatally with a relative risk of 1.24, 95% confidence interval: 1.01-1.52.


CONCLUSIONS
Even in a cohort with relatively low exposure levels of parental smoking, maternal smoking in pregnancy was associated with an increased risk of acute otitis media in early childhood.
Håberg
S E
SE
Division of Epidemiology, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway. siri.haberg@fhi.no
Bentdal
Y E
YE
London
S J
SJ
Kvaerner
K J
KJ
Nystad
W
W
Nafstad
P
P
D000208:Acute Disease; D000328:Adult; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009664:Norway / Q000453:epidemiology; D010033:Otitis Media / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*; D010290:Parents; D011247:Pregnancy; D011297:Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects; D012044:Regression Analysis; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012907:Smoking / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000453:epidemiology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014028:Tobacco Smoke Pollution / Q000009:adverse effects*; D055815:Young Adult
D014028:Tobacco Smoke Pollution