Trends in otitis media-related health care use in the United States, 2001-2011.

ABSTRACT:

Importance

Otitis media (OM) is a leading cause of pediatric health care visits and the most frequent reason children consume antibiotics or undergo surgery. During recent years, several interventions have been introduced aiming to decrease OM burden.

Objective

To study the trend in OM-related health care use in the United States during the pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV) era (2001-2011).

Design, setting, and participants

An analysis of an insurance claims database of a large, nationwide managed health care plan was conducted. Enrolled children aged 6 years or younger with OM visits were identified.

Main outcomes and measures

Annual OM visit rates, OM-related complications, and surgical interventions were analyzed.

Results

Overall, 7.82 million uniq

SUBMITTER: Marom T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3947317 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature