Table 2.

 Predictors of episodes of distress by day three in children with acute otitis media. Figures are numbers (percentage) of children^*

	Distressed	Not distressed	Crude odds ratio (95% CI)	Adjusted odds ratio† (95% CI)‡	P value‡
Symptoms and signs
High temperature on day 1 (>37.5°C)	24 (33)	21 (10)	4.56 (2.34 to 8.85)	4.54 (2.28 to 9.03)	>0.001
Vomiting	23 (32)	31 (15)	2.74 (1.47 to 5.12)	2.56 (1.32 to 4.95)	0.006
Cough	54 (75)	120 (57)	2.30 (1.26 to 4.19)	2.02 (1.07 to 3.80)	0.025
Ear discharge	22 (31)	51 (24)	1.39 (0.77 to 2.51)	1.24 (0.65 to 2.40)	0.52
Red drum	55 (76)	169 (81)	0.77 (0.40 to 1.46)	0.82 (0.41 to 1.65)	0.58
Bulging drum	36 (50)	97 (46)	1.15 (0.68 to 1.97)	1.14 (0.64 to 2.03)	0.66
Clinical features
Previous episodes of respiratory tract infection:
0	10 (16)	36 (19)	1	1	0.95
1	16 (26)	36 (19)	1.60 (0.64 to 4.00)	1.32 (0.49 to 3.54)
2	12 (19)	40 (21)	1.08 (0.42 to 2.80)	1.19 (0.43 to 3.30)
3	24 (39)	75 (40)	1.15 (0.50 to 2.66)	1.07 (0.44 to 2.61)
Age ⩽3 years	26 (36)	87 (42)	0.79 (0.46 to 1.38)	0.59 (0.32 to 1.08)	0.084
Communication and satisfaction
Worries dealt with:
Extremely well	21 (29)	76 (37)	1	1	0.16
Very well	39 (54)	112 (54)	1.26 (0.69 to 2.31)	1.23 (0.64 to 2.35)	0.08§
Moderately well	12 (17)	19 (9)	2.29 (0.96 to 5.45)	2.53 (0.99 to 6.46)
Satisfied:
Extremely	22 (31)	72 (35)	1	1	0.56
Very	35 (49)	108 (52)	1.06 (0.58 to 1.95)	1.05 (0.55 to 2.01)	0.37§
Moderately	15 (21)	27 (13)	1.82 (0.82 to 4.01)	1.57 (0.66 to 3.75)

^*Denominators vary due to missing values. 

^†Adjusted for other significant predictors of outcome. 

^‡Likelihood ratio test. 

^§Trend, z test.