Prevalence and Comparison of Otological Disorders among Children Attending Selected Urban and Rural Primary Schools in Enugu.

Background: Diseases of the ear remain the commonest otorhinolaryngological disease among children. When left unattended to, can impact negatively on the child's general well-being, academic performance, life potentials and integration into the society.

Aim: To determine the prevalence and pattern of otological diseases among school-aged children, and compare the prevalence between the urban and the rural school children's populations.

Patients and methods: A cross-sectional study of 385 school children randomly selected from rural and urban primary schools in Enugu state, Nigeria. The clinical presentations, otological examination findings, and overall diagnosis were recorded. Data analysis was both descriptive and inferential using the statistical packages for social sciences (SPSS) version 26 for windows, at 95% confidence level.

Results: A total of 83 pupils (21.56%) had different ear diseases. The commonest presenting complaint was ear itching (11.4%), followed by hearing loss (7.5%), while the least presenting complaints were dizziness and foreign body impactions. Most pupils had type A tympanogram (94.3%) and normal hearing on audiometry (83.9%). The commonest ear pathology was cerumen impaction (30.9%). The pattern of presentation, physical findings and clinical diagnosis were largely similar between the rural and urban populations (P < 0.05).

Conclusion: Otological diseases are common among school children in both rural and urban areas. They can be easily identified and prevented by routine screening and follow-up to help reduce the long-term sequelae.