The Prevalence of Otitis Media in the Young Adult Men Group in Gwangju . Chonnam, Korea / 대한이비인후과학회지

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Otitis media is one of the most common inflammatory disorders in the field of otolaryngology. Fortunately, with development in antibiotics and advances in preventive therapy otitis media is on the decrease. Nevertheless, there are only few reports about the prevalence rate of otitis media in Korea. Therefore, we investigated the prevalence of each type of otitis media among young adults in Gwangju and the Province of Chonnam, Korea. SUBJECTS AND METHOD: 28, 200 men aged 19 years old who underwent physical examination for conscription at the Military Manpower Administration in Gwangju from February to september, 2002 were analyzed, retrospectively. RESULTS: The overall prevalence of otitis media was 0.219%. Prevalence of each subtype was as follows; acute otitis media, 0%; otitis media with effusion, 0.049%; chronic otitis media, 0.17%, respectively. In the group of chronic otitis media, chronic perforated otitis media was 95.8%. The prevalence of otitis media did not vary by urban-rural difference, nor by coastal-inland area. CONCLUSION: The prevalence rate of chronic otitis media was remarkably decreased, compared with 10 years ago (0.70%), and conspicuously with 20 years ago (2.81%). Therefore, we think this low prevalence rate is partially due to remarkable improvement in socioeconomic conditions with better nutrition, housing, hygienic condition, social environments and advances in public health and medical care.