Objective:

The study aims to assess the impact of obstructive sleep apnea on quality of life in pediatric patients along with their management approaches.

Methodology:

The study has applied a cross-sectional design to recruit children, visiting ENT clinics with the suggestion of obstructive sleep apnea. History and OSA assessment were collected for these children from the hospital. Besides this, OSA-18 questionnaire was used to collect the data, translated into Arabic language for respondents’ feasibility.

Results:

A total of 24 patients (40%) were able to cure with medical treatment, whereas 36 patients (60%) were provided with surgical treatment. There were significant association between medical management and parental smoking (p-value=0.011), OSA score (p-value-0.003) and the size of adenoid (p-value=0.008). A significant association was also shown between size of adenoid and severity of OSA18 (p-value=0.031). No significant difference was shown between parental smoking, allergic rhinitis and severity of OSA.

Conclusion:

Although the surgical management is still the main modality in treating OSA, medical treatment plays an important role especially in cases with mild OSA, small adenoids and indoor smoking.