Abstract
Objectives
To investigate the incidence and characteristics of adult otitis media with effusion (OME) before, during, and after the COVID-19 pandemic.
Methods
A retrospective descriptive study was conducted. The incidence, age, sex, affected ear side, time of OME onset according to COVID-19 and days of improvement after conservative treatment were determined to assess the clinical features of adult OME in different periods of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Results
The incidence of adult OME during these periods was 3.17%, 2.30%, 6.18%, and 3.68%, respectively. Unilateral ear involvement and male sex were more common. The onset of adult OME occurred 7.80 ± 3.97 days after COVID-19 diagnosis, and improvement was observed after 12.24 ± 5.08 days of conservative treatment. Patients in the post-pandemic period were older than those in the non-pandemic period.
Conclusion
The incidence of adult OME in China showed a tendency to decrease, recover, and decrease again following the COVID-19 outbreak. Pandemic prevention and control measures have had a certain impact on reducing the incidence, but the elderly are more prone to this disease.
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Acknowledgements
The authors thank all patients for their participation.
Funding
This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 82271180 and 81600793) and Natural Science Foundation of Anhui Province (Grant No. 1608085QH224).
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Qi, X., Zhang, K., Wang, Y. et al. Incidence and characteristics of otitis media with effusion in adults before, during, and after the COVID-19 pandemic. Eur Arch Otorhinolaryngol 281, 2275–2280 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00405-023-08338-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00405-023-08338-6