Table 3.
Demographic and acute otitis media (AOM) episode characteristics of the children with ≥1 quality-of-life (QoL) questionnaire available
| Characteristic | Germany | Italy | Spain | Sweden | UK | Overall |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number of children | 176 | 169 | 215 | 194 | 98 | 852 |
| Male, n (%) | 86 (48.9) | 86 (50.9) | 109 (50.7) | 108 (55.7) | 56 (57.1) | 445 (52.2) |
| Age, months, median (range) | 24 (1–66) | 34 (0–71) | 25 (0–69) | 24.5 (1–68) | 22.5 (1–71) | 25 (0–71) |
| Visits due to AOM | 277 | 227 | 487 | 278 | 138 | 1407 |
| Episodes of AOM with a questionnaire, n (%) | ||||||
| 1 per child | 140 (79.5) | 143 (84.6) | 159 (74.0) | 166 (85.6) | 79 (80.6) | 687 (80.6) |
| 2 per child | 27 (15.3) | 23 (13.6) | 43 (20.0) | 20 (10.3) | 16 (16.3) | 129 (15.1) |
| 3–5 per child | 9 (5.1) | 3 (1.8) | 13 (6.0) | 8 (4.1) | 3 (3.1) | 36 (4.2) |
| AOM episodes with QoL questionnaire/all AOM episodes, n/N (%) | 225/323 (69.7) | 198/240 (82.5) | 287/374 (76.7) | 231/302 (76.5) | 122/180 (67.8) | 1063/1419 (74.9) |
| Level of AOM diagnostic certainty, n (%) | ||||||
| Physician-diagnosed | 136 (60.4) | 116 (58.6) | 200 (69.7) | 145 (62.8) | 99 (81.1) | 696 (65.5) |
| Physician-confirmed | 82 (36.4) | 82 (41.4) | 82 (28.6) | 82 (35.5) | 21 (17.2) | 349 (32.8) |
| Laboratory-confirmed | 7 (3.1) | 0 | 5 (1.7) | 4 (1.7) | 2 (1.6) | 18 (1.7) |
| Signs/symptomsa, n (%) | ||||||
| Ear pain/otalgia | 158 (70.2) | 172 (86.9) | 185 (64.5) | 149 (64.5) | 59 (48.8) | 723 (68.1) |
| Redness of tympanic membrane | 158 (70.2) | 138 (69.7) | 201 (70.0) | 172 (74.5) | 50 (41.3) | 719 (67.7) |
| Fever | 105 (46.7) | 96 (48.5) | 140 (48.8) | 112 (48.5) | 42 (34.7) | 495 (46.6) |
| Bulging of tympanic membrane | 72 (32.0) | 72 (36.4) | 94 (32.8) | 128 (55.4) | 15 (12.4) | 381 (35.9) |
| Loss of light reflex | 111 (49.3) | 70 (35.4) | 110 (38.3) | 5 (2.2) | 2 (1.7) | 298 (28.1) |
| Presence of acute middle-ear effusion | 75 (33.3) | 55 (27.8) | 52 (18.1) | 7 (3.0) | 4 (3.3) | 193 (18.2) |
| Ear discharge | 28 (12.4) | 27 (13.6) | 45 (15.7) | 59 (25.5) | 26 (21.5) | 185 (17.4) |
| Ear tugging | 22 (9.8) | 24 (12.1) | 9 (3.1) | 17 (7.4) | 25 (20.7) | 97 (9.1) |
| Hearing loss | 7 (3.1) | 9 (4.5) | 8 (2.8) | 1 (0.4) | 2 (1.7) | 27 (2.5) |
| Other | 50 (22.2) | 24 (12.1) | 103 (35.9) | 31 (13.4) | 47 (38.8) | 255 (24.0) |
| Perforation of the tympanic membrane, n (%) | 13 (5.8) | 5 (2.5) | 12 (4.2) | 40 (17.3) | 3 (2.5) | 73 (6.9) |
| Antibiotic prescription, n (%) | 174 (77.3) | 182 (91.9) | 252 (87.8) | 224 (97.0) | 114 (93.4) | 946 (89.0) |
AOM acute otitis media, UK United Kingdom, QoL quality of life
aData missing for one UK episode