Factors associated with time to improvement
Factors known to affect OME in adults were statistically analyzed. They were patient age; the duration of symptoms; a history of OME; a history of myringotomy; the characteristics of the middle-ear fluid, such as its color; air in the middle ear; and the average air-bone gap. Three factors were found to be related to time to improvement: a patient age between 40 and 60 years, a duration of symptoms of < 2 weeks, and a history of OME (Table 4).