Impact of Chronic Adenoid Hypertrophy on Quality of Life Index in Children and Role of Adenoidectomy

Objectives: To analyze the effects of chronic adenoid hypertrophy on quality of life (QOL) of children and caregivers and compare quality of life of child before and after adenoidectomy. Materials & Methods: Prospective, observational before and after questionnaire based assessment study at a pediatric otorhinolaryngology specialty center in a metropolitan quaternary care hospital. Children aged between 2 and 12 years undergoing adenoidectomy were included. Parents were asked to fill the Obstructive Sleep Apnea-18 (OSA-18) Quality of Life Index Questionnaire one day before surgery and after one month of surgery during their scheduled follow-up visit. The study was conducted over a period of 1 year and total of 40 children’s assessment was done. Results were tabulated and analyzed. Results: The mean age of presentation was 6 years. Based on OSA-18 quality of life assessment scoring the total pre-operative mean score was 73.3 and post-operative was 40.5. There was significant change in OSA-18 total score and individual domain scores post-operatively indicating significant improvement in QOL post adenoidectomy. The domains most affected due to chronic adenoid hypertrophy were physical suffering, caregiver concerns and sleep disturbance (p value < 0.001).Conclusion: Chronic adenoid hypertrophy has major impact on quality of life of a child along with caregiver concern and they show significant improvement after adenoidectomy.