Otitis media and well-being in a male population in Gothenburg. The study of men born in 1913.

In a sample of 767 60-year-old men and 220 50-year-old men from the general population of Gothenburg, Sweden, the possible influence of otitis media, suffered in the past, on various measures of well-being was studied. Men with a history of otitis media required more medical care, measured as number of appointments with a doctor during the last 10 years, number of drugs taken during the last 14 days, and early retirement due to illness, than men with no such history. They also had lower grade of self-estimated perceived health, hearing, memory, physical fitness, appetite, mental energy and patience. There was no correlation between a history of otitis and a number of socio-economic factors. In addition, otitis infections in the past were measured as a hearing loss in the low-frequency range (greater than 20 dB loss in the 250 Hz and 500 Hz register). Such a hearing loss was related to the same variables as the otitis history. In addition, men with a low-frequency hearing loss were less well educated, were heavier, had more days and more periods of sickness benefit than other men. They also had spent more time as an in-patient in hospital and were less active during their leisure time. These results indicate that otitis infections affect the health and the well-being of the patients even long after the actual incident.