Ear Infection and Its Associated Risk Factors in First Nations and Rural School-Aged Canadian Children

Abstract

Background. Ear infections in children are a major health problem and may be associated with hearing impairment and delayed language development. Objective. To determine the prevalence and the associated risk factors of ear infections in children 6–17 years old residing on two reserves and rural areas in the province of Saskatchewan. Methodology. Data were provided from two rural cross-sectional children studies. Outcome variable of interest was presence/absence of an ear infection. Logistic regression analysis was conducted to examine the relationship between ear infection and the other covariates. Results. The prevalence of ear infection was 57.8% for rural Caucasian children and 43.6% for First Nations children living on-reserve. First Nations children had a lower risk of ear infection. Ear infection prevalence was positively associated with younger age; first born in the family; self-reported physician-diagnosed tonsillitis; self-reported physician-diagnosed asthma; and any respiratory related allergy. Protective effect of breastfeeding longer than three months was observed on the prevalence of ear infection. Conclusions. While ear infection is a prevalent condition of childhood, First Nations children were less likely to have a history of ear infections when compared to their rural Caucasian counterparts.

Prevalence of Middle Ear Infections and Associated Risk Factors in Children under 5 Years in Gasabo District of Kigali City, Rwanda

“…Children were less likely to have a middle ear infection if their parent or guardian was more educated compared to being uneducated. Protective effects of parental education have been described in other studies [ 20 , 34 ]. Thus there is a need to provide health education especially targeting lowly or uneducated parents whereas at the same time strengthening education and raising awareness in schools.…”

“…Our study found no relationship of middle ear infections and breastfeeding regardless of duration yet breastfeeding is known to be protective for middle ear infections [ 9 , 20 , 32 ]. Moreover, there was no difference in middle ear infections among the breastfed and nonbreastfed children.…”

“…A similar finding was reported by Zhang and colleagues (2014) in their meta-analysis where none of the studies they included showed a correlation between breastfeeding and middle ear infections [ 35 ]. Karunanayake and colleagues (2016) compared incidences of middle ear infections in children in 2 rural communities and found that children were less likely to develop middle ear infections if they were breastfed for at least the first 3 months [ 20 ]. Being a multifactorial condition, sheer lack of breastfeeding in absence of other risk factors may not increase risk of developing middle ear infections.…”

“…Therefore, it is recommended to avoid risk factors as a way to prevent the first episode [ 17 , 18 ]. Risk factors include poor hygiene, malnutrition, overcrowding, frequent upper respiratory tract infections, failure to breastfeed, [ 19 , 20 ], prolonged use of a pacifier, frequenting a day-care centre, and exposure to passive smoking [ 13 , 17 ].…”

Lower prevalence of multiple sclerosis in First Nations Canadians

“…20 Diet, other health behaviors, housing conditions, exposure to infection, and vitamin D status may all differ between the FN and non-FN populations. [21][22][23] The incidence and prevalence of MS in other indigenous populations is lower than we observed, even in other world regions in which the prevalence of MS is considered to be high. In the United States Gulf War Veterans cohort, the incidence of MS was 3.1 per 100,000 in Native Americans.…”