Translation and cultural adaptation of the Hebrew version of the Pediatric Sleep Questionnaire: a prospective, non-randomized control trial

Purpose: Left untreated, obstructive sleep-disordered breathing (OSDB) are associated with adverse effects on growth and development. History and physical examination alone are used for diagnosing children with OSDB, as polysomnography is not always feasible. Our objective was to develop and validate a Hebrew version of the Pediatric Sleep Questionnaire (PSQ) to help to diagnose and follow-up children before and after adenotonsillectomy surgery for OSDB. Methods: We conducted a prospective, nonrandomized, controlled trial in an academic medical center. We enrolled parents of children younger than 5 years of age planned for tonsillectomy with or without adenoidectomy due to obstructive airway indication. The parents completed the validated Hebrew version of PSQ questionnaire before and after surgery. We translated the questionnaire through forward–backward translation method. Our main outcome measures were reliability, validity, and responsiveness of the Hebrew version of PSQ. Results: Overall, 45 parents of children with OSDB and 34 controls filled out the questionnaires. We found significant differences between the PSQ scores before and after surgery (p < 0.001). The Hebrew version of PSQ results after surgery were similar to those of the control group (p = 0.206), as expected. We found high reliability of the Hebrew version of PSQ before surgery (α = 0.931). The translated PSQ had a high specificity (87.9%) and sensitivity (77.3%) to identify children with OSDB. Conclusion: The Hebrew version of the validated PSQ for parents to children with OSDB can be used as a reliable screening and diagnostic tool to identify children suffering from OSDB, when polysomnography is not feasible.