Mukara Kaitesi Batamuliza, Lilford Richard J, Tucci Debara Lyn, Waiswa Peter
ENT Department, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Rwanda, Kigali, Rwanda.
Department of Health Policy, Planning and Management, Makerere University School of Public Health, Kampala, Uganda.
Int J Pediatr. 2017;2017:4280583. doi: 10.1155/2017/4280583. Epub 2017 Dec 3.
Middle ear infections are common in children, and delay in diagnosis and treatment may result in complications such as delays in speech and language development and deafness. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence and care seeking behaviour for middle ear infections in children under five years in Kigali city. We conducted a cross-sectional study among 810 children aged 6-59 months in Gasabo district of Kigali city, Rwanda. The prevalence of middle ear infections was 5.8%, of whom 4% had chronic suppurative otitis media. A child was less likely to develop middle ear infections if they lived in an urban setting (OR = 0.52, 95% CI: 0.285-0.958) but more likely to develop middle ear infections if exposed to household smoke (OR = 2.54, 95% CI: 1.18-5.46). Parents were unlikely to know that their child had an ear infection (OR: 0.15, 95% CI: 0.06-0.34). Middle ear infection remains a public health problem in Rwanda but many parents were not aware of its presence in the affected children. There is a need to raise awareness of parents about ear infection and to promote early care seeking from qualified health workers.
中耳感染在儿童中很常见，诊断和治疗的延迟可能会导致诸如言语和语言发育迟缓以及耳聋等并发症。本研究的目的是确定基加利市五岁以下儿童中耳感染的患病率及就医行为。我们在卢旺达基加利市加萨博区对810名6至59个月大的儿童进行了一项横断面研究。中耳感染的患病率为5.8%，其中4%患有慢性化脓性中耳炎。如果孩子生活在城市环境中，患中耳感染的可能性较小（比值比=0.52，95%置信区间：0.285-0.958），但如果接触家庭烟雾，则患中耳感染的可能性较大（比值比=2.54，95%置信区间：1.18-5.46）。父母不太可能知道他们的孩子患有耳部感染（比值比：0.15，95%置信区间：0.06-0.34）。中耳感染在卢旺达仍然是一个公共卫生问题，但许多父母并未意识到受影响儿童患有该疾病。有必要提高父母对耳部感染的认识，并促进他们向合格的卫生工作者寻求早期治疗。
