الملخص

ABSTRACT Context: Acute otitis media (AOM) is the most frequent diagnosis in the children visiting offices. The prolonged and recurrent episodes of AOM may lead to hearing impairment and delayed speech development, which will influence the child's performance at school. Aim: The aim of this study is to identify the risk factors of acute otitis media in preschool children attending ENT clinics at Al-jamhory Teaching Hospital in Mosul. Methods: To achieve this aim, a case control study design was adopted. The sample of the present study included 150 children (cases) who have been diagnosed by the responsible ENT specialist according to the otoscopic examination with another 150 children (controls) who were diagnosed not to have AOM. Period of data collection was from 1st of October 2011 to the 1st of April 2012. Results: The present study showed that the highest frequency of acute otitis media occurred in the age group 1-2 years 39 patients (26%), and more frequent AOM attacks occurred in males. Clinical presentation among the cases were fever, otalgia, otorrhea, irritability, loss of appetite, vomiting, diminished hearing, and few patients presented with tinnitus and vertigo. The significant risk factors for AOM were day care attendance, bottle feeding for the 1st 6 months of life, supine bottle feeding, pacifier use in the second 6 months of life, parental tobacco smoking, preterm baby, and allergy. No association was found between craniofacial anomaly and occurrence of AOM in the present study. Conclusion: Day care attendance, bottle feeding during the 1st 6 months of life, supine bottle feeding, pacifier use in the second 6 months of life, parental tobacco smoking, preterm baby, and allergy were found to be a significant risk factors for AOM among study population. Recommendation: Additional studies on potential measures to prevent AOM through the reduction of risk factors are needed..