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Childhood otitis media is associated with dizziness in adulthood: the HUNT cohort study

  • Otology
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Abstract

The objective of the study was to examine the association between otitis media in childhood and dizziness in adulthood. Longitudinal, population-based cohort study of 21,962 adults (aged 20–59 years, mean 40) who completed a health questionnaire in the Nord-Trøndelag Hearing Loss Study was conducted. At 7, 10 and 13 years of age, the same individuals underwent screening audiometry in a longitudinal school hearing investigation. Children found with hearing loss underwent an ear, nose and throat specialist examination. Adults diagnosed with childhood chronic suppurative otitis media (n = 102) and childhood hearing loss after recurrent acute otitis media (n = 590) were significantly more likely to have increased risk of reported dizziness when compared to adults with normal hearing as children at the school investigation and also a negative history of recurrent otitis media (n = 21,270), p < 0.05. After adjusting for adult age, sex and socio-economic status, the odds ratios were 2.1 [95 % confidence interval (CI): 1.4–3.3] and 1.3 (95 % CI: 1.0–1.5), respectively. This longitudinal cohort study suggests that childhood chronic suppurative otitis media and childhood hearing loss after recurrent acute otitis media are associated with increased risk of dizziness in adulthood. This might reflect a permanent effect of inflammatory mediators or toxins on the vestibular system. The new finding stresses the importance of treatment and prevention of these otitis media conditions.

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful to the late Dr. H. M. Fabritius and to Namsos Hospital for making the SHINT data available to us. We are grateful to Howard Hoffman for the help with obtaining funding. The Nord-Trøndelag Health Study (the HUNT study) is a collaboration between the HUNT Research Center, Faculty of Medicine, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Verdal, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, and Nord-Trøndelag (NT) County Council. The NT County Health Officer and the Community Health Officers in Levanger and other municipalities provided organizational and other practical support. We also thank the NTHLS team for their diligence.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Mental Health, Department of Psychosomatic and Health Behavior, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, PO Box 4404, Nydalen, 0403, Oslo, Norway

    Lisa Aarhus, Kristian Tambs & Bo Engdahl

  2. Epidemiology and Statistics Program, Division of Scientific Programs, National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD), National Institutes of Health (NIH), Bethesda, MD, 20892, USA

    Howard J. Hoffman

Authors
  1. Lisa Aarhus
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  2. Kristian Tambs
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  4. Bo Engdahl
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Correspondence to Lisa Aarhus.

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The manuscript has not been submitted to more than one journal for simultaneous consideration. The manuscript has not been published previously (partly or in full). A single study is not split up into several parts to increase the quantity of submissions and submitted to various journals or to one journal over time. No data have been fabricated or manipulated (including images) to support your conclusions. No data, text, or theories by others are presented as if they were our own (“plagiarism”). Consent to submit has been received explicitly from all co-authors, as well as from the responsible authorities—tacitly or explicitly—at the institute/organization where the work has been carried out. Authors whose names appear on the submission have contributed sufficiently to the scientific work and, therefore, share collective responsibility and accountability for the results.

Conflicts of interest

The NTHLS, which is a part of HUNT, was funded by the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD), NIH, research contract No. N01-DC-6–2104. The present study was supported by a grant from The Extra Foundation: Health and Rehabilitation through the member organization The National Association of Hard of Hearing. The funding source had no role in the design and conduct of the study; collection, management, analysis, and interpretation of the data; preparation, review, or approval of the manuscript; and decision to submit the manuscript for publication. All funding had followed the guidelines on good publication practice. There was independence between researchers and funders/sponsors. All authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

Research involving human participants

The research is in compliance with the Norwegian Data Inspectorate and the Norwegian Regional Committee for Medical Research Ethics. We do not possess any person identifiable data. For all individual participants included in the study, informed consent was obtained. For this type of study, no formal consent is required.

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Aarhus, L., Tambs, K., Hoffman, H.J. et al. Childhood otitis media is associated with dizziness in adulthood: the HUNT cohort study. Eur Arch Otorhinolaryngol 273, 2047–2054 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00405-015-3764-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00405-015-3764-9

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