Prevalence of Acute Otitis Media in Febrile Children at a Tertiary Care Hospital

Abstract

Objective: To find out the prevalence of acute otitis media among febrile children presenting at a tertiary healthcare facility.

Study Design: A cross-sectional study.

Place and Duration of the Study: The Department of Pediatrics, Chandka Medical College, Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto Medical University, Larkana from 1^st January 2021 to 30^th June 2021.

Material and Methods: A total of 118 children of both genders aged 2 to 11 years with fever (temp>100.4 ⁰F) for a minimum duration of 6 hours were included. Demographic data along with presenting symptoms were noted. Auroscopy/otoscopy was performed in all cases for the diagnosis of AOM. All the study data was entered into SPSS version 26.0 for statistical analysis.

Results: In a total of 118 children, 67 (56.8%) were male. Mean age was noted to be 4.9±4.2 years (ranging between 2 to 12 years) and 62 (52.5%) children were aged between 2 to 5 years. Mean duration of fever was 6.20±1.7 days (ranging between 3 to 9 days) while 75 (63.6%) children had duration of fever above 5 days. Mean maximum reported fever was 103.04±1.1 ⁰F. Irritability, dizziness, restlessness and diminished appetite were the most frequent symptoms noted in 98 (83.1%), 67 (56.8%), 61 (51.7%), and 58 (49.2%) patients respectively. The prevalence of AOM was observed in 27 (22.9%) febrile children.

Conclusion: The prevalence of acute otitis media among febrile children was high. High index of suspicion for acute otitis media should be made whenever febrile children are presenting to pediatric healthcare facilities.