Author(s)
Jason R Brown, Nathan D. Vandjelovic, Bianca Siegel, Prasad John Thottam
Affiliation(s)
1 Detroit Medical Center, 2 Wayne State University, 3 Beaumont Children's Hospital, 4 Detroit Medical Center - Children's Hospital Of Michigan, 5 Michigan Pediatric Ear, Nose, And Throat Associates
Abstract:
INTRODUCTION: Type I laryngeal clefts are congenital anomalies of the posterior laryngeal wall. To date, there is no prospective data assessing the impact of intervention on quality of life (QOL) in children with type I laryngeal clefts. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the impact of intervention on QOL in children with type I laryngeal clefts. METHODS: Eighteen patients underwent evaluation and repair of a type I laryngeal cleft. The validated Infant and Toddler Quality of Life Questionnaire (ITQOL-SF47) was administered to the caregiver both prior to surgery and at the first post-operative visit. Additional data include age at the time of surgery, choking on feeds, recurrent croup, GERD, and synchronous airway lesions. Due to low statistical power (N=18) and apriori hypothesized improvement, a one-tail significance test was used for analyses examining the impact of intervention on change across time. RESULTS: Mean age at the time of surgery was 26.4 months (SD=17.6); 55.5% were male. Significant changes across time, from pre-to-post intervention were found for the following ITQOL-SF47 scales: overall health (F = 3.2, p = 0.047), pain (F = 3.70, p = 0.037), and temperament (F = 4.8, p = 0.035). Marginally significant and potentially clinically significant effects (i.e., large effect sizes) were found for several other scales (physical abilities, satisfaction with growth, and family cohesion). CONCLUSION: Data suggest positive changes in quality of life after intervention for children with type I laryngeal clefts. Re-examining study questions with a larger sample size is warranted.