Temporal Trends in and Patient Characteristics Associated with Surgery for Otitis Media

Objectives: To evaluate temporal trends and identify patient characteristics associated with otitis media (OM) surgery.

Methods: A retrospective cohort study performed using electronic health record data from seven large pediatric medical networks from January 1, 2009, to December 31, 2022. Children <6 months old cohort entrance time and OM history were included and followed longitudinally.

Results: The database included 1,448,390 children entering at age <6 months of which 5.3% underwent tympanostomy tube insertion (TTI). Inclusion criteria was met by 454,924 children. Age at first OM was 1.6 years (standard deviation [SD]: 1.1), with mean follow-up of 6.3 years (SD 3.7), and 249,818 (54.9%) were male. Among children with OM 64,950 (14.3%) underwent only TTI, and 13,188 (2.9%) had TTI with adenoidectomy (TTI-A). Over time, TTI only rates exhibited seasonal fluctuations with a drop in 2020, TTI-A rates were flat. The following patient characteristics greatly increased TTI: sensorineural hearing loss (adjusted hazard ratio, aHR 4.0, [95% confidence interval, CI] 3.9-4.1), chronic adenoiditis (aHR 3.4 [95% CI 3.0-3.5]), and cleft palate (aHR 1.9 [95% CI 1.8-2.0]). Children 4-8 years old (aHR >11.7 [95% CI 10.6-16.4]), history of chronic adenoiditis (aHR 6.4 [95% CI 5.4-7.7]), or sleep disorders (aHR 4.9 [95% CI 4.7-5.2]) greatly increased TTI-A odds.

Conclusions: Overall TTI rate was 5.3%, which increased to approximately 20% in children with OM. Aside from the COVID-19 pandemic, surgical rates have been stable. Though multiple characteristics increase the risk of TTI, sensorineural hearing loss for TTI only, and older age in the TTI-A subset carried the highest risk.

Level of evidence: 3 Laryngoscope, 2024.