Assessment of Prevalence of Otitis Media with Effusion and Correlation Between Otoscopic Findings with Jerger's Diagnostic Tympanograms Among Pupils in Calabar Municipality.

Background: OME is an accumulation of serous or mucoid fluid in the middle ear cavity with an intact tympanic membrane and without any sign of acute infection.

Aims: This study aimed to determine the prevalence of otitis media with effusion among preschool and school-age children aged 1-10 years in private and public schools in Calabar municipality and the correlations between otoscopic findings and Jerger's diagnostic criteria among study participants.

Methods: This school-based descriptive cross-sectional study used a multistage sampling technique to recruit participants. The Institutional Ethical Committee approved the study. Consent and assent were obtained from parents/guardians of children aged < 6 years and >7 years, respectively. A structured questionnaire was used to obtain sociodemographic characteristics, symptoms, and possible risk factors for otitis media with effusion. In addition, ear, nose, and throat (ENT) examinations and tympanometry were performed for each participant. Jerger's type B and C tympanograms were the diagnostic criteria for otitis media with effusion. The data were analyzed using IBM SPSS version 25, and the threshold for statistical significance was set at P < 0.05.

Results: The overall prevalence of OME was 13.8%, with P values ≤ 0.001, P = 0.597, and P = 0.007 for daycare (45.85%), public schools (14.7%), and females, respectively. Jerger type B tympanograms had a strong positive correlation with middle ear fluid (r = 0.777) on otoscopy, Jerger type C tympanograms with dull TM (r = 0.687), and retracted TM (r = 0.774).

Conclusion: Otitis media with effusion was more prevalent among preschool children aged 1-2 years in public schools and among female children in Calabar municipalit. The otoscopic results of otitis media with effusion were consistent with Jerger's diagnostic criteria in our study.