Chronic otitis media in the southwestern American Indian. I. Prevalence.

Clinical experience with chronic otitis media in the southwestern Indian has revealed a preponderance of patients in the under 25 age group, with frequently associated chronic rhinorrhea, and without demonstrable adenoid hypertrophy. A study of 505 people, representing 93% of the population of a representative community on the White Mountain Apache Indian Reservation, has revealed a prevalence of chronic otitis media of 8.3%. The relative freedom of complications, even in cases of long standing, seems to attest to the benign nature of this condition in the southwestern Indian.