Prevalence of Chronic Suppurative Otitis Media Among School Children Residing in Rural Area of Belagavi, South India

To study the prevalence of chronic suppurative otitis media among school children in Belagavi, rural area of South India. A community based descriptive cross sectional survey was conducted in 7 schools of rural areas of Belagavi district in Karnataka over a period of 2 months between 15th July and 15th September 2018. A survey demographic data collection was done on 694 school children aged between 6 and 14 years attending these schools. A detailed history and otoscopic examination was done in the school premises. Data received from the study was entered and statistical analysis was done. CSOM was present in 36 (5.2%) out of 694 students examined among which 22 (6.8%) of them lived in families with overcrowding. H/o cleaning the ear with various materials was given by 27 (7.4%) of them. 29 (9.3%) of them had recurrent respiratory tract infection, 7 students had active disease. The prevalence of CSOM in this study is relatively lower in this part of the rural South India. There is a higher prevalence of safe disease with central perforation than unsafe disease. Recurrent respiratory tract infections and history of cleaning of ear were the predictors of CSOM among school children. There is a need for better knowledge of illness and screening programme for early detection and management.