STUDY OF EAR INFECTION AND ITS COMPLICATIONS AMONG IRAQI PEOPLE
Dr. Falah Hussein Flaih AL- Abboodi
ABSTRACT
Poor management of ear infections can lead to many complications, and lack of otolaryngology services in our area may be a key cause of a high ear, nose and throat (ENT) disease complication rates. The aim of this survey was to determine the epidemiological characteristics of ear infection and its complications in Iraqi patients presenting to health facilities. This retrospective cross-sectional chat review survey was conducted on (2554) patients who attended to Al-Karama teaching hospital in Baghdad / Iraq and consulted for an ENT problem during the period from January to December 2017. The results showed that 785(30.7%) presented with ear infections, and 478 of them were men and 307 were women with an average age of 28 years. The most affected age group was children aged between (0-10) years with 36.6% prevalence. The prevalence rate was the highest among rural people (32.6%). Otitis media predominated (84.3%) of all ear infections). Otitis externa and interna were represented with a frequency of (14.0%) and (1.7%) respectively, and the most common complication was chronic otitis (41.2%). It can be concluded that ear infection remains a serious public health problem because of its incidence and complications associated with a high morbidity. Early and detailed consultation by an otolaryngologist might be a solution to this high rate of complications in our country.
Keywords: Ear infection, Complications, Iraq.
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