Natural history of otitis media with effusion without hearing loss in children under 12 years: a systematic review.

Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the natural history of otitis media with effusion (OME) without hearing loss in children under 12 years.

Methods: We performed a systematic search in Embase, CINAHL, MEDLINE, INAHTA database, CENTRAL, CDSR, Epistemonikos and PsycINFO to identify observational single group studies and comparative studies with untreated control arms published in English up to June 2022, reporting natural history of OME without hearing loss. The JBI (Joanna Briggs Institute) checklist and Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) methodology were used to assess risk of bias and overall quality of evidence, respectively.

Results: Nineteen studies with samples ranging from 16 to 816 children met the inclusion criteria. The quality of evidence ranged from low to very low. Resolution of current episode of OME without hearing loss was 10-66% by 1 month, 3-93% by 3 months, 10-98% by 6 months, 20-92% by 9 months and 78-99% by 12 months, depending on populations and how resolution was defined across studies. Resolution of OME (defined as change from type B to non-B tympanogram) was only 10% by 6 months in Aboriginal infants. Recurrence of OME was 7% by 3 months, 8-18% by 6 months, 10-28% by 9 months and 8-35% by 12 months.

Conclusions: There was a trend towards greater resolution of OME without hearing loss and recurrence of OME over longer follow-up periods; however, they did not seem to follow a linear pattern, potentially due to differences in populations and definitions of resolution across studies.