Long-term effect of adenotonsillectomy on quality of life in pediatric patients

HYPOTHESIS: Adenotonsillectomy improves general and disease-specific quality of life for properly selected patients suffering for upper airway obstruction secondary to adenotonsillar hypertrophy (UAO) and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). STUDY DESIGN: Prospective, nonrandomized questionnaire. SPECIFIC AIMS: To evaluate quality of life in patients with UAO and OSA using general quality of life instruments as well as disease-specific instruments. The results will be compared both pre- and postoperatively. METHODS: Fifty-five patients aged 2 to 16 with the clinical diagnosis of UAO or OSA were recruited. The caregivers completed Children's Health Questionnaire Parent Form-28 (CHQPF-28) and OSA-18 quality of life measures both pre- and postoperatively in the long and short term. Statistical analysis was performed using the unpaired Student t test, P value less than.05, and Spearman Rank coefficient. RESULTS: CHQ-PF28 scores were improved in the Physical Summary parameter in long-term follow-up. Psychosocial scores did not improve significantly. OSA-18 scores showed improvement in both the short-and long-term scores. Physical findings and symptoms did not impact scores in any domain. CONCLUSIONS: Quality of life in children with OSA does improve after adenotonsillectomy. Disease-specific clinometric instruments show improvement in domains affected by the disease process. However, instruments used to assess general quality of life may show physical improvement but not psychosocial.