Abstract

Background: Chronic suppurative otitis media (CSOM) is one of the most common ear diseases in the South East Asia having a prevalence of approximately 5.2% in the general population. The socioeconomic cost of CSOM can hamper the auditory development of the child, thus putting a burden on the society.

Objective: To find the prevalence of CSOM in school going children and its relation with socioeconomic status.

Materials and Methods: Descriptive cross-sectional study involving 990 schools going children in Nanded District of Maharashtra.

Result: The prevalence of CSOM was found to be 6.4%, with tubotympanic type constituting majority 87.50% trailed by atticoantral type 12.50%. With respect to socioeconomic groups, upper and lower groups had 37.5%, and lower group had 34.37% prevalence. The most patients presented with moderate hearing impairment 43.75% and mild hearing impairment 31.25%.

Conclusion: The socioeconomic cost of CSOM puts an immense burden on the growth of a child. Improvement of health care facilities and awareness among health-care providers would definitely be helpful in reducing the prevalence of ear diseases in the developing countries like ours.

Key words: CSOM; Socioeconomic; Tubotympanic; Atticoantral; Children