Pre- and postoperative quality of life and emotional/behavioural problems in children with PFAPA.

Abstract

OBJECTIVE:

This study aimed to evaluate the effects of surgical intervention on quality of life, emotional/behavioural problems and school absenteeism in children with periodic fever, aphthous stomatitis, pharyngitis and cervical adenitis (PFAPA.) METHOD: A total of 56 children aged between 4 and 12 years, diagnosed with PFAPA and undergoing tonsillectomy with/without adenoidectomy at a tertiary hospital were included in the study. The Questionnaire for Quality of Life Assessment for Children and Adolescents Parent Form (Kid-KINDL) and the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaires (SDQ) were used to evaluate quality of life and emotional/behavioural problems, respectively. The cases were assessed before and three months after surgery.

RESULTS:

The mean (SD) age of the children was 6.64 (3.03) years, and 58.9% (n = 33) were boys. The numbers of pre- and post-operative periodic fever episodes were 3.0 (1.7) and 0.6 (0.9) (p < 0.001), those for school absenteeism were 10.28 (5.53) and 2.85 (2.95) days (p < 0.001) and those for hospital presentations were 3.8 (2.5) and 1.1 (1.1) (p < 0.001), respectively, all of which were significantly lower in children with PFAPA at three months after the operation. The surgical procedures were effective in improving quality of life and emotional/behavioural problems, as evidenced by the significant differences between the pre- and post-treatment scores in outcome measures, including SDQ and Kid-KINDL (p < 0.001).

CONCLUSIONS:

This study demonstrated that the surgical approach exhibited positive effects in terms of improving quality of life and reducing emotional/behavioural problems and school absenteeism in children with PFAPA.

• Authors: Ali Karayağmurlu, İsmail Aytaç
• Journal: International journal of pediatric otorhinolaryngology (Int J Pediatr Otorhinolaryngol) Vol. 137 Pg. 110239 (Oct 2020) ISSN: 1872-8464 [Electronic] Ireland
• PMID: 32896352 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Observational Study)
• Copyright: Copyright © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Topics

• Adenoidectomy
• Adolescent
• Affective Symptoms (etiology)
• Child
• Child, Preschool
• Female
• Fever (psychology, surgery)
• Follow-Up Studies
• Health Status Indicators
• Humans
• Lymphadenitis (psychology, surgery)
• Male
• Neck
• Pharyngitis (psychology, surgery)
• Postoperative Period
• Preoperative Period
• Problem Behavior
• Prospective Studies
• Quality of Life (psychology)
• Stomatitis, Aphthous (psychology, surgery)
• Syndrome
• Tonsillectomy
• Treatment Outcome