Vitamin D Levels in Children With Otitis Media With Effusion: A Case-Control Study

Background: Otitis media with effusion (OME) is one of the main sources of hearing impairment in children. One of the possible causes of middle ear infection and OME is immune system disorders. Based on previous studies, vitamin D deficiency plays an important role in the incidence of middle ear infections. Objectives: This study aimed to determine blood levels of vitamin D in children with OME (as an inflammation of the middle ear) in comparison to a control group of patients admitted to Loghman-Hakim hospital in Tehran. Patients and Methods: In this case-control study, one hundred twenty children with OME who were admitted to Loghman-Hakim hospital between April 2013 and March 2014 and who were candidates for adenotonsillectomy were studied. They were divided into two groups based on tympanometry. The first group contained patients with OME and hearing loss of Type B or Type C2, and the second group (control) contained patients without OME and tympanometry of Type A or Type C2. On the day of surgery, blood samples were obtained for measurement and comparing of serum levels of vitamin D in the two groups. Results: In this study, 120 children (40 cases and 80 controls) that were candidates for tonsillectomy were studied. The largest number of cases was males (60%). The mean age of patients with otitis media was 5.7 ± 2.6 years-old and in the control group was 7.2 ± 2.2 years-old. The mean levels of vitamin D in children with OME was 26.1 ± 14.6 ng/mL and in children in the control group was 29.5 ± 17.9 ng/mL (P = 0.27). Conclusions: Although there was not a significant relation shown between vitamin D levels between the two groups in our study, the vitamin D level in OME patients was less than in the control group. Therefore, it seems that measuring the level of vitamin D in these patients is necessary, and a deficiency of vitamin D must be treated. In order to achieve certain results with more detail we suggest more studies with larger sample sizes and covering a longer time period are needed on this topic.