Prevalence of middle ear effusion among children with adenoid hypertrophy at Muhimbili National Hospital.

Abstract

Introduction: Middle Ear Effusion is a common disorder in children which may either resolve spontaneously or cause undesirable complications especially if associated with persistent hearing loss. Middle Ear Effusion contributes to hearing loss, poor speech acquisition and learning difficulties. There has been no study done to show the magnitude of middle ear effusion in children with adenoid hypertrophy and its complications in our country. Aim: This study aimed at determining the prevalence of middle ear effusion among children with adenoid hypertrophy at Muhimbili National Hospital Materials and Methods: This study was conducted at MNH, Dar-es-salaam in Tanzania among 420 children aged 9 years or less. All children with adenoid hypertrophy attending MNH were included in the study. Diagnosis of middle ear effusion was reached by findings of the ear drum with exclusion of features of acute otitis media. Tympanometry was conducted by research assistant and type B curve was regarded as diagnostic for middle ear effusion. SPSS computer program 16.0 wasused to analyze the data and relationships were tested at 5% tolerable error. Results; Adenoid hypertrophy is a significant risk factor for MEE. About 61.7% of children with adenoid hypertrophy presented with MEE. On the other hand males were more affected with MEE as compared to females and the age of over 2years to 6 years had more cases of MEE of about 67.9%. Conclusion; Adenoid hypertrophy is a significant risk factor for MEE and the most affected age is over 2 years to 6 years with male preponderance.