Analysis of disability of the children due to the ear diseases and mastoid process in St. Petersburg

Aim. To analyze the characteristics of primary childhood disability due to diseases of the ear and mastoid process in St. Petersburg from 2001 to 2018.

Methods. It was analyzed the indicators of primary childhood disability due to diseases of the ear and mastoid process in St. Petersburg over 18 years (2001–2018) since the beginning of the pediatric medical and social examination service appeared in the city: number, rate and structure. For the calculation we used the statistical data of the St. Petersburg Health Committee (reporting forms No. 12 and No. 30), the Federal Treasury Institution “The Main Bureau of Medical and Social Expertise across St. Petersburg” — form 7-D (social security), and data of a single automated vertically integrated information and analytical system for conducting. Statistical methods for studying disability were used: continuous observation (indicators of the number and rate of primary disability), nesting (serial) sampling to study the structure of disability (910 children recognized as disabled by the city’s Bureau of Medico-social Examination from the moment of their occurrence).

Results. The rate of primary disability of children due to pathology of the ear and mastoid process for 18 years ranged from 0.34 to 1.4 per 10 thousand children , the average over the entire period of 0.77 per 10 thousand. In the structure of primary disability due to diseases of the ear and mastoid process in children, was 54.8% boys and 45.2% girls. It was recorded, that increase of the number of children recognized as disabled for the first time due to this pathology was related with an increase in the share of coverage of newborns with hearing screening, as well as an increase in the average annual number of children in St. Petersburg. Also, indicators of primary childhood disability depend on indicators of the primary incidence of ear diseases and mastoid process.

Conclusion. Indicators of the number and rate of disability of the children who were first recognized as disabled due to ear and mastoid diseases in St. Petersburg increased from 2001 to 2018, which is associated with an increase in birth rates, primary morbidity and primary detection of ear and mastoid diseases in children.