OTITIS-MEDIA - RELATIONSHIP TO TONSILLITIS, SINUSITIS AND ATOPIC DISEASES

In order to estimate the co-morbidity between ear infections and relat ed childhood diseases, data about the occurrence of recurrent ear infe ctions, tonsillitis, sinusitis and atopic diseases from a population b ased sample of 7992 Norwegian twins were analysed. Correlational resul ts revealed two general clusters, one consisting of upper respiratory tract infections (URI), the other defined by the atopic diseases. Over all, associations between the diseases were greater in males The sizes of the correlations within each subgroup of infections were moderate, but significant, ranging from 0.191 to 0.363. Similar results were fo und for the relationship within the subgroup of atopies, with correlat ions ranging from 0.134 to 0.466. The correlations between the infecti ous and atopic diseases were weak. Both ear infections and tonsillitis seemed to be predisposing factors for sinusitis. The relative risk of sinusitis among individuals with a history of ear infections was 3.4 (1.9-6.2) and 1.9 (1.2-3.0) for males and females, respectively. Ear i nfections conferred an increase in tonsillitis, estimated at 2.3 (1.6- 3.0) and 2.0 (1.2-3.6) for males and females, respectively. In conclus ion, the present study finds evidence for a common predisposition of u pper respiratory infections as well as for atopic diseases, but only m oderate correlation between the subgroups. Specifically, between ear i nfections and hay fever there was no covariation.