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Impact of Otitis Media Severity on Children’s Quality of Life

Objectives: Children with otitis media suffer sleep disturbances, loss of appetite, earache, and psychosocial and behavioral problems. Our objective was to describe the impact of otitis media severity on infant quality of life (QoL). Methods: Study Design: Multi-institutional prospective cross-sectional study. Setting: otolaryngology, family practice, and pediatric outpatient clinics. Subjects: Children 6-24 months of age with and without a primary diagnosis of recurrent otitis media. Data were collected from providers and parents, including relevant patient history, a Family Information Form, the PedsQL Infant quality of life survey, and the 6-item child with OM QoL survey (OM-6). Results: A total of 2414 patients were enrolled. The average age was 16 months, and 58% were male. The mean OM-6 score was 3.26, slightly more severe than the reported 2.8 for the average child with OM. The mean PedsQL Infant scores were 77 for children less than 1 year old, and 79 for children >1 year. These values indicate worse QoL compared to the reported average scores for healthy and acutely ill infants, 82.47 and 79.46, respectively. Higher OM-6 scores were significantly correlated with worse PedsQL Infant scores, Pearson r values -0.602 and -0.563, P < 0.01. Other factors that correlate with QoL in this population will be discussed. Conclusions: Children 6-24 months of age with recurrent OM had a mean PedsQL score significantly worse than similarly aged healthy children. Worse PedsQL Infant scores were highly correlated with elevated OM-6 scores, suggesting that severity of OM significantly affects child QoL.