Otitis media with effusion in relation to socio economic status: a community based study.

Otitis media with effusion (OME) is the presence of non purulent effusion within the middle ear cleft. The symptoms of this disease are not alarming as in suppurative otitis media. The disease is common in young children. The main symptom of this disease is decreased hearing, which may sometime go unnoticed more so if the parents are not attentive. We conducted a community based study among 1,020 school children of the age group 5-10 years from schools of sub-urban areas of Dakshina Kannada district, Karnataka, to explore the relationship of OME in relation to socioeconomic status. Diagnosis of OME was done by clinical examination and tympanometry. Prevalence of OME was 4.5%. Out of 46 cases, 4% belong to upper class, 26% to upper middle class, 26% to lower middle class, 43% to upper lower class.