Media Release:

New Report Highlights Burden of Childhood Middle Ear Disease in Australia

Middle ear disease costing the Australian health system up to $163.3 million per year

Cost of loss of well-being up to $2.6 billion per year

A new report launched recently has revealed that more than 7 out of 10 children will have at least one case of middle ear disease (otitis media) by their first birthday.¹

Clinical Professor Harvey Coates, University of Western Australia and ear, nose and throat surgeon at the Princess Margaret Hospital for Children said today that the findings were real cause for concern due to the sheer number of children affected by otitis media.

"What is particularly confronting is the number of antibiotics being prescribed for middle ear disease, and the long term implications otitis media can have on children's health and learning," Professor Coates said.

The report, developed by Access Economics, found that antibiotics comprised around 91 percent of GP prescribed medications for otitis media for children under 15 years of age.¹

Otitis media is the general term for a range of middle ear diseases.² Many parents whose children have otitis media may just call it 'glue ear' or an 'ear infection'. Acute otitis media is commonly associated with the rapid onset of symptoms, such as fever and ear pain.²

It is estimated that during this year alone over half a million (575,444) Australians will have been affected by mild to moderate temporary hearing impairment due to middle ear disease. There will also be an estimated 15 Australian children suffering permanent hearing loss as a result.¹

Other complications are:

• perforation of the ear drum - estimated to affect 155,526 Australians in 2008
• chronic discharging of the middle ear - estimated to affect 106,924 Australians in 2008 with 50% of these patients (53,462) experiencing hearing impairment and 385 developing intracranial complications.

The report found that the cost of otitis media to the health system this year ranged from $85.6 to $163.3 million, with the net cost of lost wellbeing due to otitis media being as high as $2.6 billion. Most of the health system costs are related to GP visits, followed by medicines and hospital admissions. Families are also impacted by lost productivity and other (non health) financial costs estimated to be $66.8 million this year; 84 percent of these costs are related to carers.¹

"The high costs to the health system, lost productivity as a result of parents caring for their children and the overall burden of otitis media due to lost wellbeing costs means that much more needs to be done to reduce this significant health problem in children," Professor Coates said.

"Ways to improve this situation is to focus on earlier diagnosis of otitis media and referral to a specialist. Doctors and parents alike should consider referral to a specialist if a child has experienced more than three middle ear infections within six months. This report has shown that it doesn't pay to delay attention to this condition.

"I think we're also seeing a mini-epidemic of otitis media among children in day care facilities, where there is more opportunity for otitis media to spread. It's important that parents are vigilant about the possibility of middle ear disease in their child."

The report has also demonstrated that Indigenous Australians experience the highest proportional burden of otitis media, with nearly 10 percent of the total number of Australians having otitis media this year (659,000) being Indigenous. This is despite Indigenous people making up 2.5% of the total population. ³

Associate Professor Peter Morris, Ear Health Team, Menzies School of Health Research, Darwin said diagnosis of otitis media could be very difficult.

"More needs to be done for all Australian children, with greater emphasis on ways to halt the spread of infection, by improved hygiene and preventive treatment," he said.

"In some Indigenous communities we find that children don't show symptoms and go undetected. This leads to a higher rate of long term implications such as hearing loss and prolonged infection."

"The result of these complications is we find that Indigenous children require a longer duration of antibiotic treatment and closer follow up. Some of these children have to continue with hearing tests until their teens, and may need surgical or audiological interventions. This report emphasises that doctors need to be on the alert for high risk children who should be monitored more closely and referred to specialists sooner."

Read our Otitis Media (Middle Ear Infection) Fact Sheet.

References

1. The Cost Burden of Otitis Media in Australia, Access Economics Pty Ltd. August 2008.
2. Cripps AW, Otczyk DC, Kyd JM. Bacterial otitis media: a vaccine preventable disease? Vaccine 2005 Mar 18;23 (17-18):2304-10
3. Australian Bureau of Statistics http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/b06660592430724fca2568b5007b8619/14e7a4
   a075d53a6cca2569450007e46c!OpenDocument

†Please refer to the Access Economics report "The cost burden of otitis media in Australia" provided for further information as this document does not include all of the findings, rather it is a summary of some of the key findings. The Access Economics report contains the definitions used for of each of the different types of otitis media.

Mum Zone Release Date: 21st October 2008

Back to Media Releases