Objective: To investigate whether gross motor skills in preschool-aged children 24 to 60 months old with otitis media with effusion (OME) are different from those of preschool children without OME.
Children and methods: The gross motor portion of the Peabody Developmental Motor Scales (PDMS-GM) was used to compare 13 children with OME before and after tympanostomy tube placement to 12 children without OME.
Results: The children with OME had significantly reduced scores preoperatively compared to those without OME on the PDMS-GM. After surgery, the children with OME had higher scores than those without OME, indicating an accelerated rate of development.
Conclusions: Balance and motor development are additional factors to be considered in the medical and surgical management of the young child with chronic OME. Chronic OME may represent an additional problem for young children with existing motor deficits or other disabilities.