Pattern of ear diseases in rural school children: Experiences of free health camps in Nepal

Objective: This study was done to find out the prevalence of different types of ear disease in rural school children of Nepal. Material and methods: This is a prospective cross-sectional study among 2000 children aged between 5 and 13 years. Children those attending free health camps in rural places of six districts of Nepal were included. These free health camps were organized either by Healthy Human Society (non-governmental organization run by doctors of Nepal) or in association with other organizations. All these children were interviewed and examined otoscopically from January 2006 to December 2008. Informed consent was taken from guardians to participate in this study. Results are expressed in numbers and percentages. Results: Out of 2000 children, 64.2% were male and 35.8% female children. The most common ear diseases were wax (62.0%), followed by chronic suppurative otitis media (7.6%) and otitis media with effusion (4.7%). In CSOM, there was 83.0% tubotympanic type. Both the wax and CSOM were common in 5-7 years age group. Overall ear diseases were present in 81.6% children. Conclusion: Wax followed by chronic suppurative otitis media and otitis media with effusion were the most common ear diseases in rural school children of Nepal. Improvement of socioeconomic status and health care facilities, such as repetitions of free health camps will be helpful in reducing the prevalence of ear diseases.