Acute otitis media in schoolchildren:: allergic diseases and skin prick test positivity

Conclusions. Single and repeated episodes of acute otitis media (AOM) in 10-year-old children were associated with reported allergic disease. Further, skin prick test (SPT)-negative children with reported asthma and allergic rhinoconjunctivitis had increased risk of AOM. We suggest that optimal treatment of allergic symptoms may have an effect on AOM in school children. Objective. The objective of the study was to estimate associations between AOM, allergic diseases and SPT positivity in 10-year-old children. Material and methods. Population-based cross-sectional study of 3406 10-year-old children living in Oslo. Main outcome measures were questionnaire-based information on AOM and reported physician-diagnosed allergic diseases with symptoms during the last year. In addition, 2657 children were skin prick tested. Logistic regression analyses were performed to estimate associations and control for potential confounders. Results. One or more episodes of AOM were present in 13.8% (n = 470) of the children; 9.7% (n = 331) had single episodes, while 4.1% (n = 139) had two or more infections. We found a statistically significant association between AOM and reported allergic diseases, strongest for AOM and asthma with odds ratio 2.7 (95% confidence interval 1.8-4.0) and 2.3 (95% confidence interval 1.3-4.3) for single and two or more episodes of AOM, respectively. The risk for AOM was increased in asthmatic SPT-negative children compared with asthmatic SPT-positive children, the odds ratios were 3.0 (1.7-5.4) and 1.5 (0.8-2.8), respectively. The same tendency was found for allergic rhinoconjunctivitis.