Vitamin D Deficiency and Acute Otitis Media among Children Visiting a Tertiary Care Centre in Eastern Nepal.

Background There have been various studies to draw out the association between acute otitis media (AOM) and vitamin D deficiency but the results are conflicting. Objective To explore the relationship between vitamin D deficiency and acute otitis media. Method The comparative cross-sectional study was conducted in which children aged five to fifteen years were included. Sixty children diagnosed with acute otitis media were kept in group A while 60 children diagnosed with conditions other than acute otitis media were included in Group B. Then the Vitamin D level was sent in both the groups and compared. Result Fifty-four participants in group A had an insufficient level of Vitamin D while six participants had a sufficient level of Vitamin D and none had an excess level of Vitamin D while in Group B, fiftywo participants had an insufficient level of Vitamin D while eight participants had a sufficient level of Vitamin D. The mean vitamin D of the cases was 22.12 ±7.896 ng/ml, and that of the controls was 22.58 ±7.056 ng/ml for the controls (p = 0.737). Conclusion Both the children with acute otitis media and without acute otitis media had lower levels of Vitamin D in similar proportions. Therefore, we can conclude that there is no association between Vitamin D level and acute otitis media.