Measuring quality of life in preschool children with sore throats and otitis media using the TAPQOL questionnaire

OBJECTIVES: TNO-AZL Preschool Quality of Life Questionnaire (TAPQOL) is one of the few instruments designed to assess health-related quality of life in preschool children but its applicability to otolaryngology is unknown. STUDY DESIGN AND SETTING: We studied a consecutive series of children aged 1 to 5 years referred to hospital with recurrent sore throats, recurrent acute otitis media, or otitis media with effusion. RESULTS: TAPQOL domain scores were not influenced by age, sex, or socio-economic class, but correlated with markers of disease severity (frequency of sore throat or pyrexia, time off school), ear-related handicap (assessed with the OM6 questionnaire), and other measures of health-related quality of life (visual analogue scale, 5-point rating scale and the Health Utilities Index mark 111). Comparison with published data from healthy children suggests that these common otolaryngologic problems have a large impact on a child's quality of life. CONCLUSIONS. TAPQOL seems to be appropriate for use in this context. Marked ceiling effects in some domains, however, may limit their sensitivity.