Abstract
BackgroundAlthough acute otitis media (AOM) remains a major public health problem worldwide and brings economic burden on health care system and caregivers, little information is available about its epidemiology in Eastern Europe.MethodsWe conducted an epidemiological, prospective, observational, multi-centre cohort study (NCT01365390) in five East European countries (Estonia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania and Slovenia) between June 2011 and January 2013 to determine the incidence and clinical characteristics of AOM among children aged < 6 years during 1 year.ResultsAOM incidence was 160.7 cases (95 % confidence interval [CI]: 144.7–177.9) per 1000 person-years (PY) being the lowest in the < 1 year age group (92.3 cases [95 % CI: 59.7–136.2] per 1000 PY) and the highest in the 3– < 4 years age group (208.9 cases [95 % CI: 165.1–260.7] per 1000 PY). AOM incidence was similar across the countries, with the exception of Slovenia (340.3 cases [95 % CI: 278.3–412.0] per 1000 PY). There was a lower risk in breastfed children and a higher risk in those attending school/childcare or with allergies. AOM required 521 visits to the doctor. Antibiotics were prescribed for 276 (74.8 %) episodes with the lowest prescription rate in Estonia (51.4 %) and the highest in Romania (83.7 %). Complications were rare and hospitalisations occurred in 2 % of the cases.ConclusionsThe disease burden of AOM in Eastern Europe is relevant and public health initiatives to reduce it should be considered.Trial registrationClinicalTrial.gov NCT01365390.
Highlights
Acute otitis media (AOM) remains a major public health problem worldwide and brings economic burden on health care system and caregivers, little information is available about its epidemiology in Eastern Europe
Acute otitis media (AOM) remains a major public health problem worldwide with 80 % of children experiencing an episode before the age of 3 years [1]
Children were selected from the paediatric population registered at the participating practices and parents were contacted via mail, telephone or during a routine visit
Summary
Acute otitis media (AOM) remains a major public health problem worldwide and brings economic burden on health care system and caregivers, little information is available about its epidemiology in Eastern Europe. AOM may have non-specific symptoms, have frequent recurrences, often require several visits to the health care practitioner and is a primary reason for antibiotic prescription in children [2, 3]. All of this brings challenges and economic burden to the everyday health care system [4, 5]. We undertook this study to estimate the incidence and describe demographic and clinical characteristics of AOM in children less than 6 years of age visiting Primary Care Paediatricians in five East European countries (Estonia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania and Slovenia)
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