THE PREVALENCE OF EAR, NOSE AND THROAT DISORDERS IN VIETNAMESE PEDIATRIC PATIENTS

Abstract

Objective: To determine the prevalence of ear, nose and throat (ENT) disorders among pediatric
patients in the context of Vietnam.
Methods: The research process was conducted in the form of a cross-sectional study. Conducted in
the months of April and May 2017, the investigation relied on rural and urban-based public
hospitals in the Vietnamese context. The inclusion criterion was set in such a way that the selected
hospitals were expected to be pediatric healthcare organizations. Also, the organizations were
expected to be public institutions that had served communities for a significant period of at least
five years - preceding the time of the study.
Results: Findings demonstrated that there is an increasing trend in ENT disorders among
pediatric patients in the country, with the majority of this study’s participants constituting school
going children. From the results, the number of male participants exceeded that of female
participants diagnosed with ENT diseases – but the difference was not statistically significant. In
particular, the study’s findings demonstrated that the most common ENT diagnosis was ear wax,
with 17.3% of the selected pediatric patients in the Vietnamese context found to have been
diagnosed with the health condition. In ascending order, other conditions that followed ear wax as
a major ENT problem facing pediatric patients in Vietnam involved OME and CSOM-TT.
Conclusion: From this study’s observations, some of the strategies that are recommended include
timely referrals through community sensitization or mass education at the community and
national levels, the implementation of programs seeking to improve the socioeconomic status of
the affected families or communities (hence increased access to healthcare services), public
awareness about the availability of pediatric healthcare services targeting ENT disorders (and the
availability of specialist doctors), conducting regular screening programs that target children in
urban and rural communities, and the provision of regular and subsidized school health services.