The medical assistance seeking behaviour of the patients presenting with suppurative chronic otitis media and their treatment in Moscow

Abstract

The objective of the present study was the analysis of the medical assistance seeking behaviour of the patients presenting with suppurative chronic otitis media (CSOM) and their treatment in Moscow during the period from 2009 till 2016. The incidence of suppurative chronic otitis media in the city of Moscow in 2016 was estimated to be 0.14 per 1000 population, its prevalence 1.23 per 1000 population. The materials of the statistical reports of Moscow ENT clinics give evidence of the considerable growth in the number of the admitted patients suffering from ear diseases including suppurative chronic otitis media (mean 5.5). The surgical activity of the ENT clinics with respect to CSOM amounted to 46%. The overall increase in the number of surgical interventions is attributable to a rise in the frequency of reconstructive operations. These data give evidence of excellent continuity in the work of outpatient facilities and ENT clinics, intensification of their activities, and a change of the people's attitude toward the care for their health. Suppurative chronic otitis media is the commonest pathology encountered in the specialized ENT hospitals where it accounts for 59.8% of the total number of ENT diseases. The frequency of the surgical interventions performed for the treatment of CSOM amounts to 98.9%. The enhanced attention given to the patients with this pathology resulted in the two-fold increase of the specialized medical assistance provided to the patients presenting with suppurative chronic otitis media. The most frequently practiced form of the surgical treatment employed for the management of CSOM is tympanoplasty (in 72% of the patients on the average). The 'closed' variants of sanitizing operations are performed in 59.8% of the patients presenting with chronic suppurative otitis media and concomitant cholesteatoma whereas the 'open' interventions are used to treat 45.1% of the patients in need of tympano- and mastoidoplasty. On the whole, the priority surgical treatment of the patients with chronic suppurative otitis media in specialized medical facilities is reconstructive operations intended to simultaneously reach the beneficial sanative and functional effects without deterioration of the quality of life of the patients suffering from chronic suppurative otitis media.