THE EFFECTS OF EARLY BILATERAL OTITIS-MEDIA WITH EFFUSION ON LANGUAGEABILITY - A PROSPECTIVE COHORT STUDY

The current study, which is a follow-up on the epidemiological Nijmege n Otitis Media study, examines the relationship between early otitis m edia with effusion (OME) and later language ability in a group of chil dren with systematically documented bilateral OME. In the Nijmegen Oti tis Media study, children were screened using tympanometry at regular intervals of 3 months, between their second and fourth birthdays. At a ge 7, three groups of children participated in language testing: 82 OM E-free children, 151 children with early bilateral OME, and 37 childre n treated with ventilation tubes at preschool age. A history of OME, e ven up to nine instances, did not have negative consequences for langu age performance at age 7. Intermittent, as opposed to more continuous, OME was not found to affect language ability negatively. The suggeste d benefit of treatment with ventilation tubes was not found.