Abstract
The familial occurrence of otitis media was studied in White Mountain Apache Indians at Canyon Day, Arizona. Of the 760 residents, 366 persons were seen during a village survey for otitis media. There were 133 first-degree relatives involving 113 first-degree relative pairs. Of these, there were 38 children involving 19 separate sibling pairs, for whom age- and sex-matched controls could be assigned. Tympanic membrane scarring was assumed to be a marker of prior otitis media. The findings suggested (P less than .01 for the nonindependent first-degree relative pairs, and P less than .05 for the independent sibling pairs) a familial predisposition. With the additional assumption that the severity of tympanic membrane scarring can be ranked, no association of severity of otitis media was apparent in the first-degree relatives.
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