hospitalisation with otitis media in early childhood and cognitive function in young adult life a prevalence study among danish conscripts住院治疗中耳炎的儿童早期认知功能和年轻的成年生活中流行的一项研究在丹麦士兵.pdfVIP

Mortensen et al. BMC Pediatrics 2013, 13:8 /1471-2431/13/8 RESEARCH ARTICLE Open Access Hospitalisation with otitis media in early childhood and cognitive function in young adult life: a prevalence study among Danish conscripts Marie Mortensen1*, Rikke Beck Nielsen1†, Niels Fisker2† and Mette Nørgaard1† Abstract Background: Otitis media (OM) is a very common condition in children and occurs during years that are critical to the development of learning, literacy, and math skills. Therefore, among a large cohort of Danish conscripts, we aimed to examine the association between hospitalisation with OM in early childhood and cognitive function and educational level in early adulthood. Methods: We conducted a population-based prevalence study using linked data from healthcare databases and conscription records of Danish men born between 1977 and 1983. We identified all hospitalisations with OM before 8 years of age. Cognitive function was measured by the Boerge Prien validated group intelligence test (Danish Børge Prien Prøve, BPP). We adjusted for potential confounders with and without stratification by hearing impairment. Furthermore, we examined the association between hospitalisation with OM and the prevalence of having achieved a General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE), stratified by quartiles of BPP scores. Results: Of the 18 412 eligible conscripts aged 18–25 years, 1000 (5.5%) had been hospitalised with OM before age 8. Compared with conscripts without such a record, the adjusted prevalence ratio (PR) for a BPP score in the bottom quartile was 1.20 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.09– 1.33). There was no major difference in the proportion of men with a GCSE and those without among those hospitalised with OM in early childhood. For men in the bottom and upper quartiles of BPP scores, the PRs fo