The influence of the type of breastfeeding on middle ear conditions in infants

Infants should be submitted to hearing screening upon birth, and for the results to be complete, it is necessary to assess middle ear conditions.ObjectiveTo check whether the type of breastfeeding in infants between zero and four months can impact middle ear conditions my means an ENT assessment and acoustic immittance comparing neonates who were submitted to hearing screening with those who failed it.Materials and MethodsOtoacoustic emissions (OAE) was carried out in 60 infants between zero and four months. They were distributed in two groups; group I had the infants with OAE and those infants in group II did not have OAE. They were submitted to tympanometry with a 1000 Hz test tone and ENT assessment.ResultsBottle fed infants or those who were fed in a mixed way had more changes to their audiometry and ENT assessment, with a statistically significant difference. The breastfed infants had a higher occasion of normal tympanometries and normal otorhinolaryngological assessment, with statistically significant difference.ConclusionWe then concluded that those breastfed implants had less ENT changes and as well as less acoustic immittance change, thus enabling OAEs. Breastfeeding alone can be considered a protection factor against middle ear changes.