בשל "הגנת זכויות יוצרים" מובא להלן קישור לתקציר המאמר. לקריאתו בטקסט מלא, אנא פנה/י לספרייה הרפואית הזמינה לך. 

The objective of this study was to establish whether autoinflation was an effective intervention in a paediatric audiology service.

The aims were to evaluate whether there was improvement in hearing thresholds following introduction of an autoinflation device, and whether there was a reduction in further audiology follow-ups, and in referrals to an ear, nose and throat specialist for consideration of ventilation tube insertion.

This was a pragmatic retrospective study with historical controls using a paired availability design at a single paediatric audiology service in England.

All children seen in the clinic over a two-year period who were aged between 3 and 11 years and who had a type B tympanogram in at least one ear were included.

The Otovent autoinflation device was available as a treatment option over the second year (Cohort B) but not the first (Cohort A). There were 976 children included in the study: Cohort A comprised 513 children, Cohort B comprised 463 children.