European Journal of Molecular & Clinical Medicine

Abstract

Background: A person interacts with his or her surrounding environment through sensory experiences. The sense of hearing, in particular, fundamentally facilitates communication and nourishes social interaction. As per World health Organization report 2007, 6% of the population of India suffers with significant otological morbidities. It is estimated that over 166 million people in the developing world face a severe lack of intervention services for hearing loss.ENT problems in the community are often found to be managed without consulting a medical practitioner. A variety of factors such as the sex of the child, the socio-economic status, the severity of illness  often determine the care seeking pattern within our country.
Method: Study was conducted at the urbanized village Barwala and a resettlement colony, named, Gokulpuri. 368 homes in the rural area and 367 homes in the urban area were visited and the parents were questioned about health seeking behavior regarding common ear morbidities. Selection of the houses was based on simple random sampling. Results: It was found that 82.9% of caregivers practiced ear cleaning for their kids (78.8% in rural and 86.9% in urban). Various malpractices like visiting quacks for earache, putting oil inside ear canal, etc were highly prevalent in the study area.
Conclusion:  Ear cleaning practices that are prevalent among underdeveloped areas of India are highly unhygienic. Actions need to be taken to improve the knowledge, attitude and practices of the people, regarding ear care.