Racial Differences in Tympanometric Results

Abstract

The occurrence of failed tympanometric screenings in 253 middle-class preschool children, ages 30-48 months, was examined. Black children showed a significantly (p less than .05) lower incidence of failure (23% compared to 38% for White children); this pattern was attributable primarily to differential rates of failure for older children (greater than or equal to 36 months). Explanations for this difference are discussed.

Tympanometric norms for Chinese schoolchildren

“…Wan and Wong (2002) have demonstrated that tympanometric measures in Chinese young adults vary significantly from those commonly obtained in Western subjects. These investigators, along with Robinson and Allen (1984), suggested that the observed normative differences might be related to anatomical variations in the Eustachian tube between peoples of different races. As noted by Rushton et al (1997), it is entirely feasible that the tympanometric dissimilarities also extend to paediatric populations, particularly in view of the lower prevalence of otitis media with effusion (OME) in Chinese children (Chen et al, 2003;Lien et al, 1985).…”

Accurate tympanometric criteria for Chinese schoolchildren

“…Descriptive statistics, including mean, standard deviation and 90% range, were calculated for the four tympanometric measurement parameters recorded for the normal population. A factorial model, which included three factors [gender (male/female), ear (repeated measures--left/right) and age (6)(7)(8)(9)(10)(11)(12)(13)], and all interactions, was fitted to the data to investigate the effects of these potentially influencing variables on the measurement parameters. The significance of any term was assessed using the analysis of variance (ANOVA) at a 95% confidence level.…”

“…Shahnaz and Davies [12] reported similar findings for a population of Northern Chinese young adults. It has been postulated that such differences might be a product of variation in the structure and function of the middle ear system, particularly anatomical differences in the Eustachian tube, between peoples of differing racial heritage [7,11,13]. Possible variation in average middle ear cavity size, associated with the smaller average body size of Chinese adults compared with Caucasian adults, has also been speculated in the literature [12,13].…”

“…Recent studies have clearly identified racial heritage as a variable that may effect tympanometry outcomes and, hence, the accuracy of diagnostic decisions concerning OME [7,[11][12][13]. The majority of these studies have shown that Caucasian adult tympanometric norms are not necessarily applicable to Chinese adults.…”

Tympanometry of a diverse group of preschool aged children

“…In reviewing the literature, several studies support race or ethnicity as a predisposing factor for middle ear pathology [5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14]. However, only one study has compared rates of middle ear disease in Asian and White children.…”