Phonological awareness and reading outcomes in children with a history of otitis media: a review

Objective: A review was conducted to investigate the current evidence for effects of otitis media (OM) on phonological awareness and reading skills in children under 12 years old. Design: A review conducted in 2024 to identify articles between 1978 and 2024 related to OM and its impact on (pre-)reading skills. Study Sample: An initial search across six databases provided 6808 research outputs. After screening, 27 articles were retained. Screening of the references on the selected articles provided an additional 6, giving 33 articles in the final review. Results: The selected research papers did not all evaluate the same phonological awareness or reading skills. Of the studies, 20 identified that a history of OM impacted reading outcomes. Twelve studies found no significant impact while one study showed an impact which resolved with time. Conclusion: The findings do not show a consistent association between a history of OM and phonological processing or reading skills. This is likely due to the wide range of methodologies employed and variability in the focus of the respective studies. Future research, including longitudinal studies, would be beneficial to infer the potential impacts of OM on phonological processing or reading skills.