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The screening and epidemiology of middle-ear disease in a population of primary school entrants

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 June 2007

Christopher P. Hallett
Affiliation:
Community Physician (Child Health), Bury Area Health Authority.

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate that the epidemiology of middle-ear pathology in primary school entrants is such that any screening procedue based upon a ‘once and for all’ test on a single cohort of children is unlikely to identify those children most in need of intervention and likely to lead to unnecessary over referrals both to a Community Audiology Clinic or a Specialist Unit. Further evidence is produced to show the value of serial tympanometry as a screening tool generally and the use of the tympanometer 85AR specifically. Agreement is also measured between three variables in middle-ear pathology, namely clinical appearance and mobility of the tympanic memebrane and the associated Tympanogram Type. The relative merits of clinical examination as a screen are discussed. A population of children from three primary school was studies on four separate occasions during 1980. 553 five-year-old children were tested overall.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © JLO (1984) Limited 1982

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