Prevalence of Otitis Media in Children and Pattern of Antibiotic Prescription at a Tertiary Hospital in Makkah

Abstract

Background: Otitis media (OM) is a common inflammatory disease of the middle ear and mostly affects children less than 5 years. It is divided into several disease subcategories: acute otitis media (AOM), recurrent AOM, OM with effusion (OME), and chronic otitis media (COM). This study aims to determine the otitis media and identify the manner of prescribing antibiotics used for the treatment of OM cases in children from 3 months to 5 years old in Hera General hospital in Makkah city. Methods: The samples were retrospectively conducted at a tertiary General Hospital in the western region of Saudi Arabia. 113 records met the inclusion criteria for the study. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics (percent and frequency). For quantitative data, the chi-square test and mean were used. Results: The number of OM cases was higher in patients aged 3 years old and less among age categories. The percentage of males (54.6%) was higher than females (45.4%). Amoxicillin-clavulanate was the most used treatment of OM in the inpatient ward, outpatient, emergency, and after discharge. The protocol of treatment was mostly by prescribing both antibiotics and analgesics without requesting any further samples to investigate the type of pathogen related to this infection. Cases presented to the emergency department were discharged with an antibiotic prescription without further investigation of the records for previous infection or recurrence. Conclusions: Due to increasing the antibiotics resistance alert around the globe, we believe that OM recurrence could be one of the community-acquired infections that affect the pediatric population and lower the quality of life and need specific attention from a physician who prescribes antibiotics for OM without further investigation.