Community based, multicenter, double-blind, randomised controlled trial comparing the effectiveness of topical ciprofloxacin and Sofradex as treatments for chronic suppurative otitis media in Aboriginal children

Abstract

Many Aboriginal conmmunities in rural and remote western Australia have rates of chronic suppurative otitis media (CSOM) 10 times the rate that the World Health Organization deemed as a massive public health problem in the child population. The recognition by Aboriginal leaders that the treatment of CSOM is a priority area has led to this issue being highlighted in Australia's National Aboriginal Health Strategy. In Aboriginal children, the disease usually commences in infancy within a few weeks of birth, causes hearing loss, is recurrent, can persist into adulthood, and may impact adversely on child development. Our trial aimed to compare the effectiveness of topical ciprofloxacin (0.3%) and framycetin (0.5%), gramicidin, dexamethasone (FGD, Sofradex) as treatments for CSOM in Aboriginal children. The trial was the first conmmunity controlled, multicenter, double-blind, randomized, controlled trial in Aboriginal children across the north of Australia