Health outcomes associated with improvement in mouth breathing in children with OSA

Abstract

Children with mouth breathing (MB) report poor quality of life. It is unknown whether improvement in MB is associated with improvement in behavior or quality of life. We hypothesized that in children with MB and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), improvement in MB is associated with improvement in behavior and quality of life, independent of improvement in OSA. This is a retrospective post hoc analysis utilizing Childhood Adenotonsillectomy Trial (CHAT) dataset, a multicenter controlled study evaluating outcomes in children with OSA randomized into early adenotonsillectomy or watchful waiting. Children with OSA and MB at baseline (determined by reporting 2 or greater to OSA-18 questionnaire on mouth breathing) were divided into 2 groups: improved mouth breathing (IMB, determined by a lower score compared to baseline at follow up) and persistent mouth breathing (PMB, determined by an unchanged or higher score). Baseline characteristics, behavior (Conners GI score), sleepiness (Epworth Sleepiness Scale), and quality of life (PedsQL) were compared between the groups using appropriate statistical tests. ANCOVA models were used to analyze change in outcomes, adjusting for treatment arm and change in AHI. Of 273 children with OSA and MB at baseline, IMB (N = 195) had significantly improved score between visits for Conner’s GI Total T score, Epworth Sleepiness Scale, and PedsQL compared to PMB (N = 78), after adjusting for treatment arm and change in AHI. Our study suggests an interesting association between mouth breathing and quality of life, independent of polysomnographic evidence. Future studies should explore the effect of mouth breathing on quality of life, in absence of OSA.