Validation of Diagnosis of Otitis Media with Effusion

Abstract

Clinical research in otitis media requires that the investigator possess the ability to make an otoscopic diagnosis with a high degree of accuracy. A program has been instituted in which the investigators become validated to assure that their observations will be similar. In clinical practice and research, tympanometric measurements have been shown to complement the otoscopic examination; therefore, an algorithm has been developed that insures a high degree of accuracy and standardization of our data. The definitions and classification of otitis media used by the OMRC are those that were proposed at the Second International Symposium on Recent Advances in Otitis Media with Effusion.