Pages 693-696 in G. Pétursdóttir et al., eds. Circumpolar Health 93. Proceedings of the 9th International Congress on Circumpolar Health, Reykjavík, Iceland, June 20-25, 1993. Arctic Medical Research. 1994;53(Suppl.2)
Northern Health Research Unit, Department of Community Health Sciences, University of Manitoba
Health Sciences Centre, Winnipeg, Manitoba
Source
Pages 693-696 in G. Pétursdóttir et al., eds. Circumpolar Health 93. Proceedings of the 9th International Congress on Circumpolar Health, Reykjavík, Iceland, June 20-25, 1993. Arctic Medical Research. 1994;53(Suppl.2)
The Keewatin Health Survey was conducted in 1990 on a 20% random sample of the children in 8 communities. A total of 307 children 0 to 11 years were examined. An ear examination was performed, and each ear was classified as to the presence or absence of acute otitis media, perforation, discharge, and scarring. A hearing screening exam was carried out by an audiologist, and an expanded hearing test was done on those who failed the screen (this was not possible for the very young), and tympanometry was performed. Twenty-seven percent of children (0 to 11 years) had evidence of otitis media, discharge, or perforation in one or both ears. This varied widely between communities, ranging from 8% to 45% (p=.005). There were no significant associations between the presence of otitis media and sex, housing type, crowding, presence of modern conveniences as a measure of SES, age, or hemoglobin. Approximately 10% of children under 12 had hearing loss for conversational speech, and a similar number had high-frequency loss. Otitis media and hearing loss are common in this population. Otitis media could not be clearly associated with socioeconomic variables other than community. Ear disease is a major health concern, but this cross-sectional survey does not further our knowledge of etiology.