Burden of acute otitis media on Canadian families

Article Figures & Data

Table 1.

Description of episodes, health services use, and medications for AOM, by age

CHARACTERISTICS	AGE
CHARACTERISTICS	*6 TO 36 MO,^ N (%) (N = 43)**	*3 TO 4 Y,^ N (%) (N = 93)**	ALL AGES,^†N (%) (N = 161)
Duration, d
• ≤ 3	14 (33)	30 (32)	52 (32)
• 4 to 6	13 (30)	32 (34)	55 (34)
• ≥ 7	15 (35)	29 (31)	51 (32)
• Unknown	1 (2)	2 (2)	3 (2)
Symptoms reported
• Ear pain	32 (74)^‡	82 (88)^‡	139 (86)
• Fever	34 (79)	76 (82)	130 (81)
• Otorrhoea or ruptured tympanic membrane	4 (9)^‡	28 (30)^‡	38 (24)
• Vertigo	5 (12)	13 (14)	23 (14)
• Hearing loss	2 (5)^‡	23 (25)^‡	31 (19)
Health services use
• Call to help line^§	7 (16)	8 (9)	18 (11)
• Visit to physician	43 (100)^‡	83 (89)^‡	151 (94)
• Private clinic or community health centre	32 (74)	68 (73)	122 (76)
• Emergency room	11 (26)	15 (16)	29 (18)
No. of medications taken
• 1	12 (28)^‡	10 (11)^‡	26 (16)
• 2	25 (58)^‡	57 (61)^‡	97 (60)
• ≥ 3	6 (14)^‡	26 (28)^‡	38 (24)
Type of medications taken
• Antibiotics	41 (95)	84 (90)	149 (93)
• Antipyretics or analgesics	31 (72)	79 (85)	129 (80)
• Ear drops	5 (12)^‡	26 (28)^‡	37 (23)
• Natural products	3 (7)	9 (10)	14 (9)

↵* Responses were compared between the 2 age groups using χ² or Fisher exact tests.
↵† Included in this group are 25 children aged 6 months to 5 years with their exact ages unknown (not included in previous 2 groups).
↵‡ Differences between the 2 age groups are statistically significant (P ≤ .05).
↵§ Some caregivers who used help lines also sought care from physicians.

Table 2.

Time spent visiting a physician, including travel, waiting, and medical examination: N = 151.