title: Child behavior and quality of life in pediatric obstructive sleep apnea.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess behavior and quality of life in children with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) undergoing tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy compared with control children.
  
  
  METHODS
  Prospective controlled study.
  
  
  METHODS
  Hospital-based pediatric otolaryngology practice.
  
  
  METHODS
  Forty-two children (25 boys and 17 girls; mean [SD] age, 5.8 [2.5] years) with OSA confirmed by positive findings on polysomnography undergoing tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy and 41 control children (29 boys and 12 girls; mean [SD] age, 7.3 [3.8] years) with no history of snoring undergoing unrelated elective surgery.
  
  
  METHODS
  Parents completed the standardized Child Behavior Checklist and a validated pediatric OSA quality-of-life survey before and 3 months after surgery.
  
  
  METHODS
  Child Behavior Checklist T scores and score classifications and quality-of-life survey mean scores.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Change in mean total problem T score was significantly greater in the OSA group (from 51.6 at baseline to 48.3 at follow-up) than in controls (from 45.5 at baseline to 46.7 at follow-up) (P = .03). The improvement in total T score classification (normal vs borderline or abnormal) was significant for children with OSA compared with control children (P = .009). Children with OSA had significant improvements in the quality-of-life survey mean total score and all individual domain scores compared with controls (P<.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Behavioral and emotional difficulties are found in children with documented OSA compared with control children, and they improve after treatment. Large improvements in disease-specific quality of life are also found. Scores on a standardized measure of behavior assessment demonstrated significant correlation with scores on a validated quality-of-life instrument.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology, State University of New York Downstate Medical Center, Brooklyn, NY 11203, USA.
authors.forename: Khoa D
authors.initials: KD
authors.lastname: Tran
authors.forename: Cuong D
authors.initials: CD
authors.lastname: Nguyen
authors.forename: Jeremy
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Weedon
authors.forename: Nira A
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Goldstein
mesh_terms: D000233:Adenoidectomy; D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior / Q000523:psychology; D002648:Child; D002652:Child Behavior / Q000523:psychology; D002653:Child Behavior Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology* / Q000523:psychology; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010608:Pharyngeal Diseases / Q000150:complications / Q000601:surgery; D017286:Polysomnography; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011581:Psychological Tests; D011788:Quality of Life; D020181:Sleep Apnea, Obstructive / Q000150:complications* / Q000523:psychology; D014068:Tonsillectomy