Behaviour problems and otitis media with effusion: a report from the Dunedin Multidisciplinary Child Development Study.

The relationship between behaviour problems at age seven and occurrence of otitis media with effusion (OME) at age five was examined in a large sample of Dunedin children. It was found that children with a significant degree of problem behaviour at seven were twice as likely to have had OME at five when compared with children without behaviour problems. Furthermore, there was a significant association between hyperactive behaviour in boys and bilateral OME.