The effects of an early history of otitis media on children's language and literacy skill development

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Abstract
Background. Otitis media (OM) or middle ear infection is a common childhood illness and is most frequent during the crucial first 3 years of life when speech and language categories are being established, which could potentially have a long‐term effect on language and literacy skill development. Aims. The purpose of the current study was to ascertain the effects of a history of OM in early childhood on later language and literacy skill development. Sample. Forty‐three children from Grade 1 and Grade 2, between 6 and 8 years old with an early history of OM and 43 control children, matched for chronological age, gender and socio‐economic status, participated in this study. Methods. Children were tested on multiple measures of phonological awareness, semantic knowledge, narration and reading ability. The performance of children with and without a history of OM was compared on the different measures. Results. There was a general tendency for children with a history of OM to achieve lower scores on phonological awareness skills of alliteration, rhyme and non‐word reading, semantic skills of expressive vocabulary and word definitions and reading than non‐OM children. Conclusion. These findings highlight the potential problems an early history of middle ear infection can have on school‐aged children's later language and literacy development.

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