Author(s)
Cha Dong Yeo, MD
Eun Jung Lee, MD, PhD
Affiliation(s)
Department of Otorhinolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, Jeonbuk National University College of Medicine, Jeonju, Republic of Korea; Research Institute of Clinical Medicine of Jeonbuk National University-Biomedical Research Institute, Jeonbuk National University Hospital, Jeonju, Republic of Korea;
Abstract:
Introduction: This study aimed to evaluate the risk of developing chronic otitis media with effusion (OME) in individuals with gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD).
Methods: A retrospective propensity score-matched cohort study was performed using data from the Korea National Health Insurance Service. The GERD group (n = 3,532) included certain individuals who had been diagnosed with GERD between January 2002 and December 2005. A comparison control group (n = 14,128) was chosen using propensity score matching, according to sociodemographic factors and year of enrolment. Each patient was monitored until 2013. Survival analysis, the log-rank test, and Cox proportional hazard regression models were used to calculate the incidence, survival rate, and hazard ratio (HR) of chronic OME for each group.
Results: Among the 17,660 individuals included in the study population (53.2% male), the overall incidence of chronic OME during the 11-year follow-up was 1.84-fold higher in the GERD group than in the non-GERD group (1.8 vs 3.0 per 1,000 person-year; adjusted HR 1.84; 95% CI, 1.46–2.31). Moreover, the adjusted HRs of developing chronic OME (allergic rhinitis, 1.69 [95% CI, 1.37–2.10]; asthma, 1.29 [95% CI, 1.02–1.64]; chronic rhinosinusitis, 1.61 [95% CI, 1.26–2.05]) were greater in patients with comorbidities.
Conclusions: This study suggested that GERD is associated with an increased incidence of chronic OME in adults. Specifically, it found that patients with allergic rhinitis, asthma or chronic rhinosinusitis showed a higher risk of developing chronic OME than those without these conditions.