Department of Epidemiology, Julius Center for Health Sciences and Primary Care, University Medical Center Utrecht, The Netherlands.
Pediatr Infect Dis J. 2013 May;32(5):549-52. doi: 10.1097/INF.0b013e318280ab45.
Studies of microorganisms involved in otitis media in children often use a nasopharyngeal sample as a proxy for the middle ear fluid to test for bacteria and viruses. The question is whether such studies provide an accurate estimate of the prevalence of microorganisms involved in otitis media. We performed a systematic review of the literature reporting on the concordance between test results of nasopharyngeal and middle ear fluid samples for the most prevalent microorganisms in children with otitis media. Our findings show that the concordances vary from 68% to 97% per microorganism. For the most prevalent microbes, positive predictive values are around 50%. Most negative predictive values are moderate to high, with a range from 68% up to 97%. These results indicate that test results from nasopharyngeal samples do not always provide an accurate proxy for those of the middle ear fluid. It is important to interpret and use results of such studies carefully.
研究儿童中耳炎涉及的微生物时，常采用鼻咽拭子作为中耳液的替代物来检测细菌和病毒。问题是，此类研究是否能准确估计中耳炎涉及微生物的流行率。我们系统性地回顾了文献，报告了最常见的中耳炎患儿的鼻咽和中耳液样本检测结果之间的一致性。我们的研究结果显示，每种微生物的一致性从 68%到 97%不等。对于最常见的微生物，阳性预测值约为 50%。大多数阴性预测值为中等到高度，范围从 68%到 97%不等。这些结果表明，鼻咽样本的检测结果并不总是能准确反映中耳液的结果。对这类研究的结果进行解读和应用时需谨慎。
