Associated factors, health-related quality of life, and reported costs of chronic otitis media in adults at two otologic referral centers in a middle-income country

xlomafota13 shared this article with you from Inoreader Associated factors, health-related quality of life, and reported costs of chronic otitis media in adults at two otologic referral centers in a middle-income country Via Ear infections by Lucia C. Pérez-Herrera, Daniel Peñaranda, Sergio Moreno-López, Ana M. Otoya-Tono, Lorena Gutiérrez- Velasco, Juan Manuel García, Augusto Peñaranda Background Despite the high prevalence of chronic otitis media (COM) in low to middle-income countries, there are few studies regarding its associated factors, health-related quality of life, and treatment costs. This study aimed to identify associated factors of COM, assess its impact on the quality of life as well as estimate the patients' reported costs of COM treatment in Colombia. Methods Cross-sectional study. Two otology-referral centers in Bogotá (Colombia) were included. Questionnaires focusing on sociodemographic and clinical associated factors, quality of life, and patients' reported costs were administered to 200 adults with COM diagnosis and 144 control adults. Otoscopic evaluation and audiometric data were collected. Results The mean age was 42.2 years (SD: 14.44). The median length of COM was 26.13 years (SD: 17.06), and 79.5% of the COM patients reported otorrhea during childhood (P-value: 0.01). The most frequently reported allergic disease amon g our study population was allergic rhinitis (26.5%). COM was less frequent in patients with a medium-high socioeconomic status (PR: 0.54; 95% CI: 0.39–0.72), and more frequent in patients who reported increased ear discharge due to upper respiratory tract infections (PR: 1.69; 95% CI: 1.68–1.70). The global score of the "Chronic Suppurative Otitis Media Questionnaire-12" showed a difference of 9 points between patients with active and inactive COM (P Conclusions Associated factors found in this study are consistent with previous reports. COM has a significant financial impact and affects patients' quality of life. Worldwide research addressing these issues in poor-resource countries is scarce, further studies are needed. View on the web Inoreader. Take back control of your news feed. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook.