CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE OF CHANGES IN QUALITY OF LIFE INDICATORS AS A METHOD FOR ASSESSING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF ENT HERBAL REMEDIES.

Ear, nose, and throat (ENT) diseases cause major disruption in patients' daily lives. Self-medication with conventional and herbal drugs are common in ENT patients. Recent studies reported that the ENT patients' self-medication with conventional medication ranged from 79.1-83.0%. It is also reported that the rate of herbal drug utilization among ENT patients ranges from 2-63% in different nations. The research aims to evaluate the effectiveness of "Herbanoma" as a Phyto preparation for ENT diseases according to the prognostic clinical significance of changes in quality-of-life parameters. The study employed the stratified sampling technique to randomly select participants. Five secondary schools of Yerevan were chosen through random selection, followed by the selection of 236 observation units from the selected schools. For the treatment and prevention of diseases of the upper respiratory tract, we used the herbal inhalation mixture "Herbaroma" as an ingredient. The composition of these drops is approved by the Intellectual Property Agency of the Republic of Armenia. SF-36 questionnaire was used to assess the quality of life of adolescents aged 15-17 years who had ENT diseases. The change of the parameters of QL in the experimental group had the greatest clinical significance for the components RP, RE, SF, and Mental Health - MH. The effectiveness of the preventive program was also evaluated according to the main groups of ENT diseases. The clinical significance of the effectiveness of the program for chronic diseases of the nasal cavities was significantly high for almost all components of the quality of life, in particular: Physical health - PH, Mental Health - MH. The program had great effectiveness for this group of ENT diseases. The clinical significance of the effectiveness of prevention programs for chronic inflammatory diseases of the throat was significantly high for the following components of the quality of life: RP, GH, PH, MH. The program has been highly effective for this group of ENT diseases. The clinical significance of the effectiveness of the prevention of chronic inflammatory diseases of the ear was generally assessed as weak. It had reliable average clinical significance for SF, RE, and MH components. Among school-aged children with ENT pathology, the use of the "Herbaroma" drug for prophylactic purposes leads to an improvement in quality-of-life parameters. According to the results of the research, the "Herbaroma" drug had an anti-inflammatory, antiseptic effect, contributed to the reduction of the incidence of acute respiratory viral infections, and the prevention of complications. The use of the relatively safe and effective "Herbaroma" preparation in school conditions should be included in the comprehensive program of preventive measures.

THE USE OF THE ARMENIAN VERSION OF COMQ-12 QUESIONNAIRE FOR QUALITY OF LIFE ASSESSMENT IN TEENAGERS WITH OTITIS MEDIA.

The aim of the study was to validate the Armenian language version of the COMQ-12 quality of life (QL) instrument among teenagers with chronic otitis media (COM). A case-control study was conducted in 350 teenagers aged 16 to 18 years: the case group of patients with COM (120) and the control group of practically healthy teenagers (230). Study participants' quality of life was assessed by specific COMQ-12 (Chronic Otitis Media Questionnaire-12) and not specific SF-36 (The Short Form-36) questionnaires. Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) instrument has been used to assess the effect of COM on the emotional field of the patients. The expressiveness of cognitive function was assessed by the Montreal Cognitive Assessment test (MoCA). According to the research data among risk factors which had statistically significant influence on COM morbidity rate in teenagers were: presence of disabled person in a family (OR=8,8), unfavorable psychological atmosphere in the family (OR=2,9), presence of accompanying chronic disease in teenagers (OR=2,1) and presence of chronic ENT diseases in parents (OR=2,1). Use of the non-specific questionnaire showed that COM mostly influences on psychological component of Mental Healthdomain of QL, as well as Social Functioning. The average score of QL in the group with COM was 28,3, and in the practically healthy group it was 3,4 (Mann-Whitney U=1725,0; р <0,01). COM mostly influences on the following scales of the COMQ-12 questionnaire: Q-3, Q-4, Q-6, Q-8, Q-9 Q-12.There was a statistically significant correlation between the parameters of COMQ-12 and SF 36 questionnaires for the following questions: Q-4, Q-6, Q-8, Q-9, Q-12. Anxiety and depression symptoms were recorded in 52,2% of teenagers in the group of cases and in 13,4% in the control one (p<0.001). The correlation analysis has shown that among the patients with COM there is an association between anxious-depressive disorders and cognitive dysfunction. COMQ-12 questionnaire used for the first time in Armenia population among the teenagers with COM showed high reliability, internal consistency and construct validity.