Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2018 Aug;43(4):1036-1042.
doi: 10.1111/coa.13094. Epub 2018 Apr 2.

Does otitis media in early childhood affect later behavioural development? Results from the Western Australian Pregnancy Cohort (Raine) Study

C Da Costa  1   2   3 , R H Eikelboom  2   3   4 , A Jacques  5 , D W Swanepoel  2   3   4 , A J O Whitehouse  6 , S E Jamieson  6 , C G Brennan-Jones  2   3   6   7
Affiliations

Does otitis media in early childhood affect later behavioural development? Results from the Western Australian Pregnancy Cohort (Raine) Study

C Da Costa et al. Clin Otolaryngol. 2018 Aug.

Abstract

Objectives: To examine the relationship between early life episodes of otitis media and later behavioural development with adjustment for confounders.

Design: Longitudinal cohort study.

Setting: The Western Australian Pregnancy Cohort (Raine) Study recruited 2900 pregnant women from King Edward Memorial Hospital (KEMH) in Perth, Western Australia, between 1989 and 1991.

Participants: Data from the children born were collected at both the Year 3 and Year 5 follow-up. At Year 3, n = 611 were diagnosed with recurrent otitis media through parent-report and clinical examination. At Year 5, n = 299 were considered exposed to otitis media based upon tympanometry results.

Main outcome measures: Performance in the Child Behaviour Checklist (CBCL), a questionnaire completed by the primary caregiver at Year 10.

Results: Significant associations were found between recurrent otitis media at Year 3 and internalising behaviours (P = .011), and the somatic (P = .011), withdrawn (P = .014), attention (P = .003) and thought problems domains (P = .021), and the total CBCL score (P = .010). A significant association was also found between exposure to otitis media at Year 5 and externalising behaviours (P = .026).

Conclusions: A modest association was seen between recurrent otitis media at Year 3 and exposure to otitis media at Year 5 and a number of behaviour domains at Year 10.

Keywords: behaviour; child development; otitis media; raine study.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

REFERENCES

    1. Kong K, Coates HL. Natural history, definitions, risk factors and burden of otitis media. Med J Aust. 2009;191(9 Suppl):S39-S43.
    1. Brennan-Jones CG, Whitehouse AJO, Park J, et al. Prevalence and risk factors for parent-reported recurrent otitis media during early childhood in the Western Australian Pregnancy Cohort (Raine) Study. J Paediatr Child Health. 2015;51:403-409.
    1. Bennett K, Haggard M. Behaviour and cognitive outcomes from middle ear disease. Arch Dis Child. 1999;80:28-35.
    1. Bennett K, Haggard M, Silva P, Stewart I. Behaviour and developmental effects of otitis media with effusion into the teens. Arch Dis Child. 2001;85:91-95.
    1. Creps CL, Vernon-Feagans L. Infant daycare and otitis media: multiple influences on children's later development. J Appl Dev Psychol. 2000;21:357-378.

LinkOut - more resources