OTITIS-MEDIA WITH EFFUSION AND SIZE AT BIRTH

To investigate whether recurrent or persistent otitis media with effus ion (OME) was associated with particular patterns of fetal growth, we conducted a case control study of 129 children admitted for insertion of grommets and 150 controls. The risk of OME was not statistically si gnificantly related to gestational age or individual measures of size at birth, but the ratio of head circumference to total length and the ponderal index at birth were statistically significantly lower in chil dren with OME, both before and after adjustment for the potentially co nfounding effects of sex, age at current operation, and maternal gravi dity. Mothers of cases were 2.2 times more likely than those of contro ls to have had one or more previous pregnancies that had not ended in a live birth (95% CI 1.3-3.8). We conclude that fetal growth, reflecte d by proportions at birth, may affect later risk of recurrent and pers istent OME.