Quality of life in children with acute otitis media (OMAVAX)

Abstract

Introduction. The objective was to measure the influence of recurrent acute otitis media (AOM) on the quality of life (QoL) in children. This study is part of the OMAVAX trial into the efficacy of vaccination with pneumococcal conjugate vaccine in children with recurrent AOM. Methods. QoL was measured in 306 children, aged 1–6 years, with validated questionnaires, RAND (general health), FS II R (FS-g = functional status in general, FS-s = illness-specific functional status), OM-6 (ear related QoL) and a self-developed questionnaire to measure family burden. Results. Children with four or more AOM episodes a year, so-called otitis-prone children, scored significantly worse than children with two or three AOM episodes a year on the RAND (P = 0.005), FS II R (FS-g P = 0.007; FS-s P = 0.003) and the OM-6 (P = 0.001). The parents of otitis-prone children do not experience a heavier family burden than parents of children with two or three AOM episodes (P = 0.1). Conclusion. Recurrent AOM has a negative influence on the QoL in children and symptoms increase with the number of AOM episodes. Prevention of AOM, for example by vaccination with a pneumococcal vaccine, would be valuable.