Surgery for otitis media and infectious susceptibility in 10-year old school children.

Objectives: Assess infectious susceptibility in children previously operated for otitis media and evaluate reliability of parental reported otitis media surgery in the same group of children.

Methods: Population based, cross-sectional survey of 10-year olds in the city of Oslo, Norway studying otitis media and surgical intervention in n=3406 with reliability assessments in a subset of n=2027.

Results: Ten percent of children had otitis media surgery. Peak age was 2.5 years for adenoidectomy and tympanostomy tubes and 3 years for myringotomy. The crude odds ratio (cOR) with 95% confidence interval (95% CI) for one or more episodes of otitis media at 10 years in children with previous otitis media surgery was 3.4 (2.7-4.4). Intervention after the child was 4 years increased the risk further, crude odds ratio 4.2 (2.9-6.1). Kappa coefficients for agreement in answers to questions on otitis media surgery performed in children between 0 and 4 years were 0.9 for adenoidectomy, 1.0 for tympanostomy tubes, and 0.6 for myringotomy.

Conclusion: Otitis media in 10-year old children was associated with previous surgical intervention, particularly when performed after 4 years of age. Parental reports of tympanostomy tubes and adenoidectomy in early childhood were found reliable.