H. Bauchner et al., THERAPY FOR ACUTE OTITIS-MEDIA - PREFERENCE OF PARENTS FOR ORAL OR PARENTERAL ANTIBIOTIC, Archives of pediatrics & adolescent medicine, 150(4), 1996, pp. 396-399
Objective: To determine if parents prefer single-dose intramuscular (I
M) therapy or standard 10-day oral therapy for treatment of acute otit
is media (AOM). Design: Parents were asked their preference at the tim
e their child was enrolled in a randomized controlled trial comparing
the clinical efficacy of single-dose IM ceftriaxone sodium with 10 day
s of oral amoxicillin and clavulanate potassium for AOM. Additional in
formation was collected at days 3 to 5 and 14 to 16 after the initiati
on of the therapy. Setting: Primarily private practices; 15 sites. Pat
ients: For this study, 648 children aged 3 months to 6 years were rand
omly assigned to receive IM (n=327) or oral(n=321) therapy. Results: T
he groups were equivalent in all measured sociodemographic factors. At
the time of enrollment, 85% of parents expressed a preference for sin
gle-dose IM therapy. At days 3 to 5, no differences were reported in d
ays children were absent from school or day care, parental absence fro
m work, or loss of sleep by children. However, more parents with child
ren in the IM therapy group than in the oral therapy group reported lo
ss of sleep by the parent (35% vs 26%, P=.02, chi(2)). At days 14 to 1
6, more parents with children in the IM group reported being ''very sa
tisfied'' with the antibiotic (65%) compared with parents whose childr
en were assigned to the oral therapy group (38%, P<.001). In comparing
current therapy to past oral therapy for AOM, 71% of the parents with
children in the IM therapy group reported more satisfaction with curr
ent therapy, in contrast to 21% of parents with children in the oral t
herapy group (P<.001). Of the parents, 83% indicated they would prefer
single-dose IM therapy for AOM in the future. Conclusion: All of the
parents prefer single-dose IM therapy for AOM over standard 10-day ora
l therapy.