Background: Acute otitis media (AOM) consistently is reflected among the two most frequent conditions. There appears to be an otitis-prone group who have a higher incidence of AOM and experience poorer treatment outcome. The purpose of this study was to examine what characteristics predicted repeat visits within 2 months of the original visit for patients with AOM.Methods: A 9-year retrospective analysis of a suburban family practice residency program was undertaken. Adult and child visits to faculty and residents with a diagnosis of AOM (n = 6,942) were followed for another occurrence within 2 months (n = 3,004). A logistic regression analyzed the effect of provider status, season, patient age, gender, race, insurance, previous history of AOM, antecedent or concomitant history of acute upper respiratory infection, history of allergic rhinitis, history of serous otitis media.Results: An inverse relationship was found to exist between age and likelihood of a return visit for AOM (p < 0.001). For patients 12 months and younger, winter (OR, 1.2; 95% CI, 1.02-1.49), white (OR, 1.4; 95% CI, 1.08-1.69), and past episodes of AOM (OR, 1.7; 95% CI, 1.39-2.03) made independent contributions to an increased likelihood of an AOM return visit. For older children, aged 13 months to 14 years, significant variables included winter (OR, 1.1; 95% CI, 1.003-1.3), white (OR, 1.2; 95% CI, 1.02-1.45), past episodes of AOM (OR, 1.6; 95% CI, 1.41-1.86), and a history of allergic rhinitis (OR, 1.6; 95% CI, 1.09-2.21). For patients 15 years and older, no statistically significant variables were found.Conclusions: Characteristics of patients less than 15 years of age could predict repeat visits for AOM.