Reference no: EM133039703

Comparing Three Methods of Treating Childhood Ear Infections*

A cute otitis media, an infection of the middle ear, is a common childhood illness. There are various ways to treat the problem. To help determine the best way, researchers conducted an experiment. One hundred and eighty children between 10 months and 2 years with recurrent acute otitis media were divided into three equal groups. Group 1 was treated by surgically removing the adenoids (adenoidectomy), the second was treated with the drug Sulfafurazole, and the third with a placebo. Each child was tracked for 2 years, during which time all symptoms and episodes of acute otitis media were recorded. The data were recorded in the following way:

Column 1: ID number

Column 2: Group number

Column 3: Number of episodes of the illness

Column 4: Number of visits to a physician because of any infection

Column 5: Number of prescriptions

Column 6: Number of days with symptoms of respiratory infection

a. Are there differences between the three groups with respect to the number of episodes, number of physician visits, number of prescriptions, and number of days with symptoms of respiratory infection?