GONCALVES, Lívia Patricia Versiani et al. Quality of life of children with sleep-disordered breathing after rapid maxillary expansion: assessment by Osa-18. RGO, Rev. gaúch. odontol. (Online) []. 2013, 61, 2, pp. 237-243. ISSN 1981-8637.

Objective This study assessed the quality of life of children with sleep-disordered breathing before and after rapid maxillary expansion. Methods A prospective clinical study was done at the University of Brasilia with a sample of 22 children aged 4 to 10 years who complained of difficulty breathing during sleep, snoring, restless sleep and obstructive sleep apnea. Questionnaire administration, clinical tests, nasal endoscopy, and CT scans of the head and neck were done before and after rapid maxillary expansion. The Wilcoxon and chi-square tests, analysis of variance (ANOVA) and odds ratio were used for the statistical analyses. Results The quality of life scores improved significantly. The total OSA-18 score decreased from 90.95 at baseline to 46.68 after rapid maxillary expansion. The mean quality of life score increased from 4.5 ± 1.7 to 7.9 ± 1.4, showing a significant improvement in the quality of life of the study children, regardless of the degree of airway obstruction or amount of expansion achieved. All study children complained of snoring, and 68.2% snored every night. After expansion, 36.4% stopped snoring. Additionally, complaints of apnea fell by 77.3%. Conclusion Children with sleep-disordered breathing have a poor quality of life mainly because of physical symptoms and sleep disturbances. The quality of life of these children improved significantly after rapid maxillary expansion, regardless of the degree of airway obstruction.

: Child. Quality of life.; Sleep apnea, obstructive.; Sleep disorders.; Snoring..