Quality of life after adenotonsillectomy for obstructive sleep apnea in children

Objective: To study changes in quality of life in children after adenotonsillectomy for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) documented by full night polysomnography.

Methods: Children with OSA who fit the standard have been selected. They were asked to complete the OSA 18 quality of life survey before adenotonsillectomy and between 6 and 18 months after surgery. Scores from the preoperative and postoperative surveys were compared using the paired t test.

Results: The mean total OSA 18 score was 70.59 (SD=15.015) before surgery and 39.94 (SD=14.232) after surgery. The changes in total score, in the scores for sleep disturbance, physical symptoms, emotional symptoms, daytime functioning, and caregiver concerns, and for each item of the OSA 18 survey was highly significant (P<0.01).

Conclusions: OSA has a relevant impact on quality of life and the children show a marked improvements after adenotonsillectomy.