Long-Term Health Utilization and Outcomes in Chronic Suppurative Otitis Media

Objective To report health utilization patterns and outcomes of medical and surgical management in patients with chronic suppurative otitis media (CSOM). Study Design Retrospective cohort. Setting Academic otology clinic. Methods This study included 175 patients with CSOM with a first clinic visit at our institution between March 2011 and November 2016. All patients displayed a diagnosis of CSOM by International Classification of Diseases code, had at least 1 episode of active CSOM (defined as perforation with otorrhea), and had a documented history of chronic ear infections. The mean age was 49.5 ± 1.5 years, 53% were female, and mean follow-up time was 3.5 ± 0.3 years. Results Patients had an average of 9.5 ± 0.5 otology visits, 4.7 ± 0.4 prescriptions, and 1.7 ± 0.1 surgeries, with estimated per patient cost ranging from $3927 to $20,776. Under medical management, 69% of patients displayed recurrence of disease, with a median time to recurrence of 4 months. For tympanoplasty and tympanomastoidectomy, median time to recurrence was similar at 5 and 7 years, respectively ( P = .73). At the most recent visit, the prevalence of all patients with CSOM displaying moderate or worse sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) was 41%. Conclusions CSOM represents a major public health issue with high health care utilization and associated costs. Surgery is superior to medical therapy for achieving short- to medium-term inactive disease. Patients with CSOM display a high SNHL burden.