Average air-bone gap
We divided the initial, average, air-bone gaps into 2 groups: gaps of ≤ 20 dB, and gaps of > 20 dB. Those patients with an initial, average, air-bone gap of ≤ 20 dB had a 2.25-times greater OME resolution (95% CI 0.94, 5.53) than those with an average air-bone gap of > 20 dB. Nevertheless, the difference was not statistically significant (p-value = 0.068).
The multivariable analysis (Table 6) found that only 2 variables affected OME resolution: age group, and average air-bone gap. Patients aged 40–60 years had an 11.19-times (95% CI 1.26, 99.39) better OME resolution than those aged < 40 years, with statistical significance (p-value = 0.030). Similarly, patients with an average air-bone gap of ≤ 20 dB had a 3.80-times (95% CI 1.16, 12.41) higher OME resolution than those with an average air-bone gap of > 20 dB, again with statistical significance (p-value = 0.027). In contrast, neither the duration of the symptoms nor a history of OME were found to be associated with the cure rate (p-value > 0.05).