Impact of breathing patterns on the quality of life of 9- to 10-year-old schoolchildren.

BACKGROUND: Mouth breathing can cause a set of changes in craniofacial growth and development, with esthetic, functional, and psychological repercussions. OBJECTIVE: To determine the impact of mouth breathing on the quality of life of schoolchildren. METHODS: A school-based, cross-sectional study was conducted with 1911 children ages 9 and 10 years in the city of Recife, Brazil. The children answered the Mouth Breather Quality of Life questionnaire and a questionnaire that addressed sociodemographic data and health-related aspects. Clinical examinations were performed by an examiner who had undergone a training and calibration process for the diagnosis of mouth breathing (kappa = 0.90). Descriptive statistics were conducted to characterize the sample. Statistical analysis involved the Student's t-test and the F test (analysis of variance) (alpha = 5%). RESULTS: The prevalence of mouth breathing was 54.81%. Children with oral breathing demonstrated a poorer quality of life in comparison with children with nasal breathing (p < 0.001). The following variables were significantly associated with a poorer quality of life among the children with mouth breathing: a younger age (p < 0.001) and the use of medication (p = 0.002). CONCLUSION: Based on the present findings, children with the mouth-breathing pattern experience a greater negative impact on quality of life in comparison with those with the nose-breathing pattern. Thus, the early diagnosis and treatment of this clinical condition are fundamental to minimizing the consequences of mouth breathing on the quality of life of schoolchildren with respiration disorders.

Development of a questionnaire for measuring health-related quality of life among children and adolescents with mouth breathing.

BACKGROUND: Mouth breathing can exert an influence on quality of life and should be evaluated within a multidimensional context. However, there is no specific questionnaire to measure the impact of mouth breathing on quality of life. OBJECTIVE: To develop and validate a questionnaire for measuring the impact of mouth breathing on quality of life among children and adolescents. METHODS: Thirty-six items were evaluated by six health care professionals, one parent and one child with mouth breathing. After a qualitative evaluation, a modified set of 32 items was developed. The modified Mouth Breather Quality of Life (MBQoL) questionnaire was submitted to a pretest with a sample of 30 children and adolescents diagnosed with mouth breathing to evaluate comprehension, the order of the items, and the form of administration. The MBQoL questionnaire was then administered to 60 children and adolescents (30 mouth breathers and 30 nose breathers) for the evaluation of construct validity, internal consistency, and reproducibility. All the participants answered the questionnaire, and 50% of each group answered the questionnaire a second time after a 1-week interval (test-retest). RESULTS: Higher MBQoL scores (which indicated poorer quality of life) were significantly associated with mouth breathing. The Cronbach α coefficient for the items of the questionnaire was 0.88, and the Spearman correlation coefficient for test-retest reliability demonstrated that the questionnaire was reproducible (r = 0.993; p < 0.01). CONCLUSION: Through this validation study, the MBQoL questionnaire demonstrated a good performance in the evaluation of the quality of life of children and adolescents with mouth breathing and may be a useful tool in clinical studies as well as public health programs. However, further studies are needed to establish its applicability in other populations with respiration disorders.

Obesity and dental caries among preschool children in Brazil.

AIM: This study was aimed at verifying the relationship between childhood obesity and dental caries. METHOD: A total of 2,651 preschool children were examined for this cross-sectional study in Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil; 1,338 of them attended public schools and 1,313 private schools. The clinical data and anthropometric measurements were obtained in line with WHO criteria. Pearson chi-square and Mann-Whitney tests were used, with a 5 % margin of error. RESULTS: The prevalence of child obesity was 9 % (n=240). The highest prevalence was observed amongst children in private elementary schools (p<0.0001). The prevalence of dental caries was 19 % (n=504). The DMFT index was smaller in non-obese individuals (p=0.0267). The average value of dental caries, lost teeth and DMFT were significantly higher among children in public elementary schools than amongst those in private pre-schools (p<0.0001). CONCLUSION: No relationship was found between dental caries and obesity. Suitable health policies should be adopted so as to minimise the high prevalence of dental caries among this population.