Effect of Ventilation Tube Insertion on the Quality of Life

Kim, Seung Hwan; Hong, Hyun Jeong; Kim, Hyung Jong

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES
Traditionally, the treatment results after ventilation tube insertion (VTI) in otitis media with effusion (OME) have been reported using the objective measures such as the changes in hearing levels, the recurrence rate of OME and the occurrence rate of tympanic membrane sequelae. This present study was to determine the effect of VTI on the quality of life (QOL) in patients of OME after the surgery. MATERIALS AND METHOD: Sixty-nine children with OME were included. For the measurement of QOL, the study was performed using questionnaires including six items such as physical suffering, hearing loss, speech impairment, emotional distress, activity limitations and care-provider concerns. We questioned the parents of the patiens on these items pre-operatively and at least one month after VTI. Test-retest reliability was determined by reviewing the results of the repeated questionnaires within 7 days in the subgroup of patients with stabilized status. The effect of VTI was determined by the standardized response mean (SRM), which is defined as the mean change score divided by standard deviation. SRM of less than 0.5 was defined as small effectiveness: greater than 0.5 but less than 0.8 as moderate effectiveness; greater than 0.8 as large effectiveness. RESULTS: Individual items of the questionnaire showed excellent test-retest reliability. The median of the preoperative QOL score was 4.1. The median change of the QOL scores after VTI was 2.4, with a SRM of 0.77 (95% confidence interval 0.54-0.99), indicating moderate effectiveness. The QOL scores of the items regarding hearing loss, care-provider concerns and physical suffering showed greater changes after VTI than those of other items. Among the items, those regarding speech impairment showed least change. CONCLUSION: VTI resulted in the improvement of QOL in most patients. Measurement of QOL could be a reliable test to study the effect of VTI in OME patients.