Presenting Author Seton Hill University Greensburg, Pennsylvania
Within the clinical literature some researchers have identified a correlation between otitis media (OM) and anemia. OM is an inflammation or infection of the middle ear. Researchers have hypothesized that iron deficiency (anemia) reduces immune response and results in an increase in OM risk. For this study the comorbidity of OM and anemia was evaluated in the Hamann-Todd Human Osteological Collection (n=20) and the Robert J. Terry Anatomical Skeletal Collection (n=105). The mastoid air cell system (MACS) hypopnuematization and porotic hyperostosis (PH) were used as skeletal markers of OM and anemia, respectively. A chi-square test of independence between MACS hypopneumatization and PH was significant (plt;0.013) (Table 1). These results lend some support to the limited clinical literature that reports anemia as a risk factor of OM, however, the relationship between anemia and OM is not discernable through skeletal remains. In addition, the results highlight the importance of comorbidities in skeletal analyses and anthropological researchers should aim to use a broad range of skeletal markers to answer questions about past populations.
Table 1: Prevalence of PH and MACS hypopneumatization by collection
