Trends in medical visits and surgery for otitis media among children
N. Croteau, V. Hai, I. B. Pless and C. Infante-Rivard
Department of Community Health, Sainte-Justine Hospital, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
We conducted a population-based descriptive study of medical visits and
surgical interventions for otitis media among 3- and 7-year-old children
from the Montreal, Canada, area over the period 1981 to 1983. The number of
children seen annually for otitis media increased over that time. An
increase in the event rate of otitis was observed; there was also an
increase in the rate of myringotomy with ventilatory tube insertion. The
rate of surgery reached a level, among 3-year-old children in particular
(25.0 per 1000 cases of otitis among boys, 23.9 per 1000 cases of otitis
among girls), that some authors have termed "epidemic." Comparison of the
trends in the rates of surgical interventions and the rates of medical
consultations for otitis suggest that most of this so-called surgical
epidemic for middle ear effusion is related to a higher frequency of the
underlying condition and not to more aggressive patterns of therapy during
the years studied.
