Incidence

About 25% of children in the UK will visit their general practitioner at some time for the treatment of earache or impaired hearing due to middle ear disease.

With respect to acute otitis media (AOM) (1):

• AOM is one of the most common complaints seen in children in primary care
• age is the most important risk factor, with three quarters of cases of AOM occurring in those aged less than 10 years
• at least one in four children has an episode of AOM before they are ten years old with the peak incidence occurring between the age of three and six years
• other main risk factor is contact with other children, for example at nursery
• other associated risk factors include (2,3):
  • environmental tobacco smoke
  • male sex
  • genetics
  • craniofacial abnormalities (eg. Down’s syndrome and cleft palate)
  • breastfeeding duration less than 3 months

Reference:

• (1) MeReC Bulletin 2006; 17 (3):9-11
• (2) Alberta Medical Association (2008). Guideline for the diagnosis and management of acute otitis media.
• (3) ICSI (2008) Health care guideline: diagnosis and treatment of otitis media in children. Institute for Clinical Systems Improvement.