The initial development of an instrument for the description of "otitis media with effusion specific behavior" in young children.

The objective of this study was a preliminary evaluation of a newly developed questionnaire concerning behavior of young children with recurrent Otitis Media with Effusion (OME) and documenting behavioral change after tympanostomy tube insertion. A sample of 95 parent-child pairs were interviewed using an age specific questionnaire: after diagnosing OME and scheduling for surgery, at the day care theatre a few weeks later, and 6 weeks after the intervention. The levels of internal consistency were varying from still insufficient to fairly good for the different subscales of the construct "OME-specific behavior" and these levels were comparable for both age specific questionnaires. As expected, parental report proved to be stable during time, but behavioral changes were reported after tympanostomy tubes insertion. The questionnaires seem to assess a decline in behavior expected to be specific for OME. Implications for future research are discussed, while considering the influence of parental concerns on behavioral reports.