Association Between Social Disadvantage and Otitis Media Treatment in US Children With Commercial Insurance

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Abstract
Otitis media is the most common diagnosis for which children receive antibiotics in the US.1,2 Otitis media refers to inflammation and infection of the middle ear that encompasses a spectrum of diseases that begins with acute otitis media in its uncomplicated form. Subsets of children experience recurrent and suppurative otitis media, which refers to discharge from the ear through a tympanic membrane perforation. A small proportion of children have life-threatening complications of otitis media, such as mastoiditis, bacterial meningitis, and intracranial abscesses. A more common complication of chronic and suppurative otitis media is hearing loss, which may impair educational and future employment opportunities.3,4

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