Otitis Media and Learning
The United States prides itself on being one of the world's super-powers. It strives to compete internationally in the areas of politics, business, and standard of living. However, in a time when arms and militaristic superiority no longer define dominance, it is the pen that is mightier than the sword. Knowledge truly is power. The U. S. continually expresses its desire to promote education as one of its primary national goals. Yet, a condition called otitis media may inhibit the process of learning in many infants and children, the future leaders of America. Many professionals have hypothesized that chronic or reoccurring otitis media may cause complications in later learning. Conversely, there is a school of thought, which speculates that otitis media does not cause any long lasting effects on learning processes. In this paper, the supposed design by which otitis media affects learning will be elucidated, as well as the reasons for the abundance of contradictory findings regarding the causality between otitis media and learning deficiency. In addition, multiple approaches towards intervention and prevention and the future direction of research will be discussed.
As long as the question of whether or not OME causes later learning problems remains unresolved, questions regarding the benefits of different intervention techniques will remain uncertain. Some treatments for OME include antibiotics, a myringotomy, and the insertion of tympanostomy tubes (Watt, Roberts, and Zeisel, 1993). While "in most cases, the natural course of an episode of otitis media with effusion is that it resolves in time" there are cases in which further action should be looked into (Hasenstab, 1987). "A child with otitis media with effusion that continues for three months or longer, or a child who has three evident episodes of middle-ear effusion within a three-month period, is in need of medical attention" (Hasenstab, 1987. citing Downs & Northern, 1984). As stated before, one possible treatment for OME is antibiotics. "Antibiotic treatment... is effective for about 50 percent of the patient population" suffering from OME (Hasenstab, 1987. citing Rubin, 1986). A more aggressive approach towards treatment of OME involves surgical procedures. One popular type of surgical intervention is a myringotomy. A myringotomy involves an incision of the tympanic membrane in order to allow drainage of the effusion (Merriam-Webster, 1995). "Myringotomy with aspiration is... performed as an emergency procedure" in order to avoid the surgical danger that general anesthesia induces (Hasenstab, 1987). "[A] Myringotomy... is ... often used in conjunction with the placement of tympanostomy (ventilation) tubes," which is meant to "aerate the middle ear to prevent the collection of fluid that occurs in the negative pressure state of the middle ear" (Hasenstab, 1987). In one particular study, researchers investigated the efficacy of ventilation tubes in children with OME. As could be expected, areas "where OME was found to have no effect [on learning], treatment with ventilation tubes was also found to have no effect," but in the specific area of writing "teachers' ratings of the writing abilities of the OME-VT subjects suggest[ed] that there [was] a positive effect of treatment" (Peters, Grievink, van Bon, and Schilder, 1994, p. 118). The commonality of OME and the ease with which it is treated "lessen[s] the concern of parents and professionals for possible immediate and long-term effects of the condition" (Hasenstab, 1987, p. 17). However, numerous studies have shown that otitis media with effusion can affect a child beyond the immediate discomfort associated with the condition. It is hypothesized that OME, by causing a hearing loss, can impede the later academic development of an otherwise, normally functioning child. The "hypothesis is based on the assumption of a direct causal relationship between OME and hearing and between hearing and language; further, it assumes that the relationship between OME and language is indirect" (Friel-Patti, 1990, p. 19). A more specific breakdown of the aforementioned hypothetical procedure follows
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Approximate Word count = 2000
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)
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