The effect of tonsillectomy with adenoidectomy on medical services used in association with otitis media based on Korean national sample cohort data.
Background
The effect of tonsillectomy with adenoidectomy (T&A) on otitis media has been investigated, but there have been no reports of the relationship between T&A and medical services used in association with otitis media. We investigated the effect of T&A on otitis media with regard to the number and cost of medical services used.


Methods
From the National Health Insurance Service National Sample Cohort data in Korea, we selected patients 7 years old or younger in 2002 who had T&A in 2005 while between the ages of three and ten. A control group was established matching the patient group with similar propensities of demographic characteristics. The number and cost of medical services used in association with otitis media were analyzed for 3 years before T&A through 8 years after T&A.


Results
The total number of patients was 1,338, with 227 in the T&A group and 1,111 in the non-T&A group. The number of medical services used was not significantly different between the T&A and non-T&A groups before and after surgery. The cost of medical services used was significantly higher in the T&A group than in the non-T&A group one year before surgery. The cost of medical services used was not significantly different between the two groups after surgery.


Conclusions
There were no significant differences between the T&A and non-T&A groups in the number and cost of medical services used in association with otitis media after surgery.
['Jeong|Junhui|J|0000-0002-1592-261X', 'Choi|Jung Kyu|JK|', 'Nam|Jae Sung|JS|', 'Shin|Hyang Ae|HA|', 'Chang|Jung Hyun|JH|', 'Choi|Hyun Seung|HS|0000-0001-9627-410X']
Tonsillectomy Adenoidectomy Medical service Otitis media Population-based study