Observational studyEuropean archives of oto-rhino-laryngology : official journal of the European Federation of Oto-Rhino-Laryngological Societies (EUFOS) : affiliated with the German Society for Oto-Rhino-Laryngology - Head and Neck Surgery2021
Impact of ear protection on occurrence of exostosis in surfers: an observational prospective study of 242 ears.
Observational study in European archives of oto-rhino-laryngology : official journal of the European Federation of Oto-Rhino-Laryngological Societies (EUFOS) : affiliated with the German Society for Oto-Rhino-Laryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed, 13 citations in OpenAlex.
- External Auditory Canal Exostosis and the California Surfer Population: A Cross-Sectional Study.The Laryngoscope · 2025Article
- What do windsurfers and kitesurfers in Germany know about surfer's ear and how is it influenced by protective measures?The Journal of laryngology and otology · 2024Article
- The Chronically Blocked Ear - A dive into external auditory exostosis.BJR case reports · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposeThe aim of the study was to investigate the efficacy of ear protection (earplug and surf hood) in preventing the development of external auditory exostosis (EAE) in surfers.
methodsWe performed a prospective observational study. Volunteer surfers were recruited from June 2016 to October 2017 on the Brittany coast in France. Each participant filled in a questionnaire and underwent otoscopic digitalized photography to establish the degree of external ear obstruction by two different practitioners. The correlation between the percentage of external ear obstruction and the time spent in water with or without protection was evaluated. Risk factors of EAE were assessed.
resultsTwo hundred and forty-two ears were analysed. The incidence of EAE was 89.96% with an average rate of obstruction of 37.65%. Risk factors for EAE were male sex (p = 0.0005), number of years practicing surf (p < 0.0001) and symptoms of ear obstruction (p = 0.0358). A significant correlation was found between EAE severity and number of hours spent in water without any protection (earplugs or surf hood) (p < 0.0001). No correlation was found between EAE severity and time spent in water with earplugs (p = 0.6711) but a correlation was identified between obstruction and time spent in water with surf hood (p = 0.0358).
conclusionsWearing earplugs is an effective way to prevent EAE in surfers unlike surf hood.
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