Comparative prevalence of otitis media in children living in urban slums, non-slum urban and rural areas of Delhi

PurposeThe study aimed to determine the prevalence and profile of otitis media in different parts of a city, i.e. non-slum urban areas, urban slums and rural areas.MethodologyA door to door survey was conducted in identified areas of Delhi. A total of 3000 children (0–15 years) were randomly selected and examined for presence of otitis media. These children were equally distributed in the three areas under consideration. Data was analyzed to establish the prevalence of different types of otitis media. Chi-square test was then applied to compare disease prevalence among the three areas.Results7.1% of the study population was identified with otitis media, which includes CSOM (4.26%), OME (2.5%) and ASOM (0.4%). In the non-slum urban parts of the city, 4.6% children had otitis media. This was significantly lower compared to 7% children in rural parts of Delhi and 9.9% in urban slums of the city. The prevalence of CSOM was considerably higher in slum areas (7.2%) as compared with rural (3%) and non-slum urban areas (2.6%).ConclusionEar infections are significantly more common in urban slums as compared to non-slum city areas and rural parts of Delhi.