Assessing the need for adenotonsillectomy for sleep‐disordered breathing in a community setting: A secondary outcome measures analysis of a randomized controlled study

Objective To assess whether children with sleep‐disordered breathing (SDB) symptom severity above a certain level, measured by a validated questionnaire, improve after adenotonsillectomy (AT) compared to no intervention. Methods Children with snoring and tonsillar hypertrophy (4 to 10‐years old), who were candidates for AT, were randomly assigned to two evaluation sequences (baseline and 3‐month follow‐up): (a) evaluation immediately before AT and at 3 months postoperatively (AT group); or (b) evaluation at the initial visit and at the end of the usual 3‐month waiting period for surgery (control group). Outcomes were (a) Pediatric Sleep Questionnaire sleep‐related breathing disorder scale (PSQ‐SRBD); (b) modified Epworth Sleepiness Scale (mESS); and (c) proportion of subjects achieving PSQ‐SRBD