Page 40 - Portuguese Journal - SPORL - Vol 61. Nº1
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effect on child health, his family, and the long- The sample size was calculated to make a
term effect on the patient himself. In line with confidence level up to 90%.
that, several PROMs have been developed as
trials to study this effect. Stewart et al. have Inclusion criteria: The inclusion criteria for the
2
developed the Tonsil and Adenoid Health first group were recurrent attacks of acute
Status Instrument (TAHSI) in 2001 in the bacterial tonsillitis (according to Paradise
United States of America, and it is considered criteria 7), obstructive sleep apnea, and a
a validated disease specific, health-related previous episode of a peritonsillar abscess.
research tool. European-Portuguese version Exclusion criteria: Cases with tonsillar tumors,
3–6
was made to be fulfilled by the parents emergent cases with peritonsillar abscess,
of children. It is a European-Portuguese and single adenoidectomy. The presence
questionnaire that includes 15 questions of cardiac pathology, immune compromise
(Table 1) divided into 6 categories: airway and or diabetes, resulted in an exclusion of the
breathing (questions 1, 7, 11, 13), inflammations present study in the selection of cases.
(questions 2, 8, 9), healthcare usage (questions
3, 4, 5, 6), eating and swallowing (questions Translation: The English to European-
12, 14), cost of the services (question 10) and Portuguese translation was performed by 2
behavior (question 15). Each question is scored translators with a medical background. The
on a scale that measures the severity of each 2 versions were combined into 1 edition (Tab.
symptom using five increasing points starting 1) which was reviewed by 3 ENT specialists
from: 0 (not a problem), 1 (mild problem), 2 with a forward and backward mechanism of
(moderate problem), 3 (fairly bad problem), translation. We asked 20 different people to
and 4 (severe problem). answer it, in order to check its accessibility and
The aim of our study was to validate and adapt ease of response.
cross-culturally the TAHSI into the European-
Portuguese language, and evaluate its effect Intervention: The questionnaire was filled in
on the patient’s quality of life. the pre-operative visit (to ensure reliability),
and six months after the operation (to
Material and Methods evaluate responsiveness). No personal data
Place, duration, and design of the study: was collected; any unreached patient was
This prospective single-centre validation tool excluded from the research – although, we
study was performed at the Department of had no excluded patients. The tonsillectomy
Otolaryngology of a tertiary center between or adenotonsillectomy operations were done
April 2020, and February 2021. under general anesthesia by cold technique
or bipolar radiofrequency. In the other group,
Ethics: The institutional review board approval the questionnaires were filled by the parents
has been obtained prior to the study. Formal during the admission of their children to the
consent was signed by the parents of the hospital and repeated 6 months after.
children for contribution in this research.
Psychometric proprieties: We checked the
Population: The study included 2 groups. The psychometric values of the tool to check the
first group was composed of 51 patients with possibility of being used by different people
indication for tonsillectomy or adenoidectomy, for academic purposes.
while the other group was composed of 49
children who did not complain of any tonsils Statistical analysis: Collected data was
or throat problems, but they were admitted organized, tabulated, and statistically analyzed
for other diseases - orthopedic pathology using SPSS version 26 (Statistical Package for
without any compromise of the upper airway. Social Studies) created by IBM, Illinois, Chicago,
40 Portuguese Journal of Otorhinolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery
