Reema Padia1, Jeremiah A Alt1, Karen Curtin2, Harlan R Muntz1, Richard R Orlandi1, Justin Berger3, Jeremy D Meier4. 1. Division of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, University of Utah School of Medicine, United States. 2. Division of Genetic Epidemiology, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Utah School of Medicine, United States; Pedigree & Population Resource, Huntsman Cancer Institute, University of Utah, United States. 3. Pedigree & Population Resource, Huntsman Cancer Institute, University of Utah, United States. 4. Division of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, University of Utah School of Medicine, United States. Electronic address: jeremy.meier@imail.org.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: Otitis media requiring tympanostomy tubes (OMwTT) is a prevalent disease process that has been previously shown to have a strong familial link. The impact from the environmental versus genetic contributions to this link is unknown. The objective was to determine the environmental involvement in the development of OMwTT. METHODS: Using an extensive genealogical database linked to medical records, we evaluated the risk of OMwTT in children of probands as compared to children of controls, individually matched 5:1 on sex and birth year, from a conditional logistic regression model. The model included adjustments for geographic and socioeconomic environmental risk factors mapped to residence location of study subjects within 63 small health statistical areas of ∼33,500 persons each. RESULTS: 37,814 case probands diagnosed with OMwTT and 181,339 controls were included in our analysis. Children of probands with OMwTT had an overall 2.5× higher risk of also having OMwTT as compared to the children of controls (p < 10-9), independent of environmental factors (PM2.5 [particulate matter] air pollution, education level of parents, and density of primary care providers). CONCLUSION: After accounting for geographic and socioeconomic differences that may influence risk between cases and controls, our findings suggest evidence of a genetic predisposition in families of OMwTT patients. Further characterization of high-risk pedigrees is needed for future genomic studies.
OBJECTIVE:Otitis media requiring tympanostomy tubes (OMwTT) is a prevalent disease process that has been previously shown to have a strong familial link. The impact from the environmental versus genetic contributions to this link is unknown. The objective was to determine the environmental involvement in the development of OMwTT. METHODS: Using an extensive genealogical database linked to medical records, we evaluated the risk of OMwTT in children of probands as compared to children of controls, individually matched 5:1 on sex and birth year, from a conditional logistic regression model. The model included adjustments for geographic and socioeconomic environmental risk factors mapped to residence location of study subjects within 63 small health statistical areas of ∼33,500 persons each. RESULTS: 37,814 case probands diagnosed with OMwTT and 181,339 controls were included in our analysis. Children of probands with OMwTT had an overall 2.5× higher risk of also having OMwTT as compared to the children of controls (p < 10-9), independent of environmental factors (PM2.5 [particulate matter] air pollution, education level of parents, and density of primary care providers). CONCLUSION: After accounting for geographic and socioeconomic differences that may influence risk between cases and controls, our findings suggest evidence of a genetic predisposition in families of OMwTT patients. Further characterization of high-risk pedigrees is needed for future genomic studies.