The use of impedance measurements in the diagnosis of serous otitis media.

The use of impedance tympanometry is discussed as part of an integrated hearing conservation programme for children. A research project in Worcester followed through a cohort of over 1000 children and tested them in three phases-pre-school entrance; school entrance and approximately 8-12 months after school entrance. At each phase of the programme 3 stages of test were devised to ensure that the ENT facilities were not overloaded with false positive cases of OME. The problems of the staging are discussed, including reasons why cases were probably missed in earlier phases. 25 cases of persistent OME were found which were confirmed at operation. 9 passed through phase 1 and persisted into phases 2 and 3 of the test series. The conclusion is reached that in 18 of the 25 cases the condition persisted from the pre-school phase.