LAUSR

BACKGROUND Acute otitis media (AOM)-inflammation of the middle ear-is the most common pediatric condition, affecting up to 75 % of children at some time before age 5 years. Despite the high incidence of AOM in children, it presents diverse challenges to parents who do not have accurate information on AOM and its management. OBJECTIVE To respond to this paucity of information we sought to synthesize the literature to provide a comprehensive understanding of parental information needs and experiences relating to AOMmanagement. This systematic review is an important first step in developing parent-informed knowledge translation tools for AOM to bridge the knowledge-practice gap. PATIENT INVOLVEMENT None. METHOD Four electronic databases were searched and articles were screened according to pre- established inclusion criteria. Articles were included in the review if they (1) examined parental information needs and experiences with respect to AOM; (2) were written in English; and (3) were published from January 2000 onward. RESULTS Out of 1121 articles retrieved, 21 articles met the inclusion criteria. The findings from this review revealed that parents' knowledge about AOM is generally limited. Further, parents were often poorly informed about what AOM was, which resulted in uncertainty about how to help their child with AOM. DISCUSSION Our review findings illustrate that parents of children with AOM have pervasive unmet information needs and information deficits negatively impact AOM management, child and family well-being. PRACTICAL VALUE Parental experiences and information needs identified through this review were used to develop innovative, evidence-based knowledge translation tools for parents of children with AOM.