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Reliability and validity of Thai version Quality of Life Questionnaire (OSA-18) for pediatric obstructive sleep apnea
Insights
The Thai version of the OSA-18 questionnaire demonstrates satisfactory reliability and validity for assessing quality of life in children with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). This validated tool can be used in future research and clinical practice for Thai pediatric OSA patients.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Sleep Medicine
- Quality of Life Assessment
- Cross-cultural Adaptation of Questionnaires
Background:
- Obstructive sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome (OSAHS) is a chronic condition impacting children's health and quality of life.
- The OSA-18 questionnaire is a validated tool for assessing quality of life in pediatric obstructive sleep apnea (OSA).
- Assessing the utility of the OSA-18 in diverse populations, such as Thai children, is crucial.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the reliability and validity of the Thai translation of the OSA-18 questionnaire.
- To establish a culturally adapted instrument for measuring quality of life in Thai children with OSA.
Main Methods:
- Cross-sectional study involving translation and cross-cultural adaptation of the original English OSA-18.
- The questionnaire was administered to caregivers of Thai children (under 15) diagnosed with OSA via polysomnography.
- Reliability (test-retest, internal consistency) and validity (correlation with apnea-hypopnea index) were assessed.
Main Results:
- The study included 43 children with a median age of 5 years and a median apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) of 6 events/hour.
- The Thai OSA-18 showed excellent test-retest reliability (Cronbach's alpha = 0.91) and good internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha = 0.77).
- A significant correlation was found between Thai OSA-18 scores and AHI (r = 0.48, p = 0.001), similar to the original version.
Conclusions:
- The Thai version of the OSA-18 questionnaire is reliable and valid for use in Thai children.
- This instrument can be utilized for future research on quality of life in Thai pediatric OSA.
- The validated Thai OSA-18 will aid in assessing treatment benefits for children with OSA in Thailand.
Background:
Obstructive sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome (OSAHS) is a chronic illness affecting either cardiopulmonary or neuropsychiatric function. Besides the functional health, the quality of life of patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is of interest in literature. In children, the quality of life questionnaire, which consists of 18 items (OSA-18), has been widely accepted as a reliable, valid, and simple to administer. This questionnaire may also be useful in Thai children with OSA.
Objective:
To assess the reliability and validity of the Thai version of OSA-18 in Thai children.
Material And Method:
This was a cross-sectional study. The original English version of the 18-item pediatric obstructive sleep apnea quality of life questionnaire was translated into Thai following the guidelines of cross-cultural adaptation with permission from Rosenfeld RM, Department of Otolaryngology, SUNY Health Science Center at Brooklyn, USA. The questionnaire was divided into five domains, sleep disturbance, physical suffering, emotional distress, daytime problems, and caregiver concerns. The suspected obstructive sleep apnea children, aged less than 15 years, who did not have cardiovascular diseases, lung diseases, or neuromuscular diseases, and who underwent standardfull night polysomnography were included. The child's caregiver was asked to complete the questionnaire without assistance to determine its reliability and validity.
Results:
Forty-three children (30 boys, and 13 girls) were enrolled in the present study. The median age was five years (range 2 to 14 years). The median apnea hypopnea index (AHI) was six events/hour and median OSA-18 total score was 66.7 (range 25 to 107). There were excellent test-retest reliability (Cronbach's alpha = 0.91) and internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha = 0.77) between each domain. Correlation between the Thai OSA-18 total scores and AHI was r = 0.48, p = 0.001, which was similar to the original English version (r = 0.43, p < 0.001).
Conclusion:
The level of reliability and validity of the Thai version of the OSA-18 has been found to be satisfactory. Therefore, this instrument can be used in future research for measuring the quality of life in Thai children with OSA and assess the benefit of treatment.
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