THE GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF SOLDIERS WITH CHRONIC OTITIS MEDIA IN OUR COUNTRY SUMMARY
GATA Haydarpaşa Eğitim Hastanesi, KBB Srv., İstanbul, Türkiye Objective: To investigate the geographical distribution of soldiers with chronic otitis media (COM) and to analyse the aetiological factors contributing to differences.Materials and Methods: The records of soldiers who had been diagnosed with COM during otolaryngology visit at a central hospital in Istanbul between January 2003 and December 2005 were screened retrospectively. Data of population, gross domestic product, number of doctors (physicians and specialists) and hospitals per city were obtained from Turkish Statistical Institute. The frequency of soldiers with COM per city and region was assessed. The correlation between the frequency of COM per city and the data of population, gross domestic product, number of doctors (physicians and specialists) and hospitals was assessed by Pearson's test.
Results: The cities of Şırnak, Siirt, Muş, Bingöl and Tunceli were the first five cities whereas Konya, İstanbul and Antalya were the last three with regard to the frequency of COM per city. The Eastern, Black Sea and Southeastern Regions were the first three regions with regard to the frequency of COM per region. There was a significant inverse correlation between the frequency of COM and gross domestic product per city. However, there was no statistically significant relationship between the frequency of COM per city and the population, number of doctors and hospitals.
Conclusion: There is a significant inverse relationship between the frequency of COM and distribution of income within our country.
Keywords : Chronic otitis media, geographical distribution, prevalence