Communication tactics used by parents of children with OME (glue ear)

Communication tactics form part of coping strategies initiated by parents of children with otitis media with effusion (OME). Knowledge of such tactics was elicited from a large sample (N = 574) of parents via open-ended questionnaire items. Using content analysis, these were categorized into 31 tactics producing an overall tactic score for each parent. Parents are generally aware of tactics that directly engage the child, but are less aware of tactics that require the involvement of a third party. Regression-based prediction of broad outcome variables of behaviour, quality of life and reported hearing difficulty was undertaken using the tactics score, child hearing level and parental anxiety as predictors. Increased use of hearing tactics (marginal) and worse parental anxiety were associated with more reported behaviour problems. Less use of tactics and lower anxiety were associated with better ENT-related parental quality of life. Parents with higher tactics scores also reported worse hearing difficulties in their children. These results suggest that parental awareness complicates the use of wider outcomes of OME, but statistical adjustment could be made with tactics score as a control variable. Although the percentage of variance accounted for by these predictive models was relatively small, they provide partial validation of the tactics score.