HEARING AND ACUTE OTITIS-MEDIA IN 13-YEAR-OLD CHILDREN

Air and bone conduction thresholds of 330 unselected urban 13-year-old children with a known history of otitis were measured under ideal con ditions, using standard clinical audiometry. In the subgroups of child ren with different numbers (0, 1-2, 3-7, greater than or equal to 8) o f attacks of acute otitis media (AOM) in their history, the mean air c onduction thresholds varied from 0.2 to 11.5 dB at different frequenci es in different AOM subgroups. Air conduction pure tone averages (PTA, mean threshold at 0.5, 1 and 2 kHz) >20 dB were not found in any of t he ears. The mean bone conduction thresholds varied from -0.0 to 1.8 d B, depending on the subgroup and frequency (0.25 to 4.0 kHz) studied. Bone conduction PTAs >10 dB were measured in 5 (0.8%) ears. Single bon e conduction thresholds >10 dB were found at different frequencies in 3 to 15 (0.5 to 2.3%) of the ears, and thresholds >20 dB in only 2 ear s (0.3%). The mean thresholds and number of ears with decreased hearin g were distributed equally between different AOM subgroups, except tha t some air conduction high frequency losses were more frequent in chil dren with greater than or equal to 8 attacks of AOM. We conclude that childhood AOM, even if it occurs frequently, seems not to have a signi ficant harmful long-term effect on hearing.