Recurrent acute otitis media (rAOM; defined as ≥3 AOM episodes in 6 months or ≥4 episodes in 12 months) affects 10-15% of children in the United States and is a leading cause of healthcare utilization and antibiotic prescriptions. Prospective identification of children at risk of rAOM could help target interventions and identify new risk factors to guide preventive approaches....
✦ The floor
Discussion
Signed responses from readers of the wire.
No immediate practice change is warranted; findings may eventually support early risk-stratification for recurrent acute otitis media, but prospective validation is needed before altering clinical workflows.
Identifying EHR-based predictors of recurrent acute otitis media could enable earlier intervention and reduce unnecessary antibiotic exposure and hearing complications in a high-prevalence pediatric population.
- 01PLoS One (2026) study mined electronic health records to predict recurrent acute otitis media (rAOM) in US children.
- 02Recurrent AOM affects 10–15% of children and is a leading cause of pediatric healthcare visits.
- 03Early-life factors documented in routine EHRs were used as predictors, potentially enabling risk stratification at well-child visits.
- 04EHR-based prediction models could support targeted monitoring without requiring additional testing.
- 05Prospective validation in diverse clinical settings is needed before clinical implementation.
Recurrent acute otitis media affects 10–15% of children in the US.
studysupportedEarly-life factors documented in electronic health records can predict recurrent acute otitis media.
studypartially supportedRecurrent acute otitis media is a leading driver of healthcare utilization in children.
studysupported- PMID
- 42758763
- DOI
- 10.1371/journal.pone.0345434.
- Journal
- PLOS ONE
- Publication type
- research_article
- Evidence level
- 2b
- Population
- US children with early-life health data documented in electronic health records
- Intervention
- EHR-derived early-life factor predictors of recurrent acute otitis media
Primary outcomes
Prediction of recurrent acute otitis media (≥3 episodes in 6 months); Identification of early-life EHR-documented risk factors