Familial predisposition for otitis media in Apache Indians at Canyon Day, Arizona.

The familial occurrence of otitis media was studied in White Mountain Apache Indians at Canyon Day, Arizona. Of the 760 residents, 366 persons were seen during a village survey for otitis media. There were 133 first-degree relatives involving 113 first-degree relative pairs. Of these, there were 38 children involving 19 separate sibling pairs, for whom age- and sex-matched controls could be assigned. Tympanic membrane scarring was assumed to be a marker of prior otitis media. The findings suggested (P less than .01 for the nonindependent first-degree relative pairs, and P less than .05 for the independent sibling pairs) a familial predisposition. With the additional assumption that the severity of tympanic membrane scarring can be ranked, no association of severity of otitis media was apparent in the first-degree relatives.